Notes Covered in Ebony
by PieRulz
Summary: My tale isn't a bedtime story. It's my nightmare, me at my lowest, me standing on shaking legs. I've almost died multiple times and ya know what Kira? Kudos to you! You took me, someone who didn't even want to do what I've done and convinced her that it's time to put on her big-girl pants and fight.MattxOC scattered throughout.
1. Chapter 1 Ebony

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. Ebony is the exception to this statement however.**

**Chapter One Ebony**

"Miss Ebony, please wake up and pay attention!" came a very irritated voice. My body involuntarily lurched forward as my face met table, and warm drool splashed from the damp drool towel I always had with me in class and onto my face. I twisted my face in disgust as I found a dry spot on the black towel and wiped my face off, looking around the room of geniuses. My gaze stopped at the scowling old man in his sixties, hair thinning to the crown of his head. His jacket was wrinkled slightly as his hands were placed on his hips. I looked behind him and saw the word "Hitler" scrawled out on the chalk board I leaned back, putting my shoes on the table and pushed my chair to where it was balancing on two legs.

This man wasn't our teacher, no she was taking a vacation. She always did around the same time every month and the reasons varied from her menstrual cycle, to it was test time and I was always more "unruly" around said time. I was leaning toward the latter of the two, once my grades plummeted, so did my behavior, the reason were two totally different from each other.

"I wasn't asleep, just resting my eyes. If you ask me investigating Hitler's mental state seems to be a waste of time, he killed himself supposedly. Many serial killers show signs of madness before they die," I stated matter-of-factly, almost as if I was bored, truth is I was. There was a stunned look on the teacher's face; I was right on subject to what was being taught. I heard a snicker roll through the class, my gaze settling on the table in the top left hand corner of the room, the familiar sounds of virtual reality swords crossing carried throughout the room, a distinct snap of chocolate interrupting the noise as the crash of dozens of pencils that were stacked to form the Leaning Tower of Pisa fell.

I crossed my hands over my well fitting black t-shirt and crossed my skinny jean clad legs, I was bored out of my mind. The only reason I was a dunce was because nothing seemed to gain my interest. I had tried working a few police cases like the ever so famous L, but to my demise I finished it only because I had nothing better to do. Everyone went back to listening to the lecture while I played with my pencils, stacking them trying to build some impressive statue, wishing I had an apple or something similar.

I was supposed to be "competing " to become a successor to L, but my photographic memory and attention span normally got the better of me, I don't know why I continued to show up to lessons. The material was common sense to me, and I assumed other people. Taking the wonderful example of Hitler, he got power, and then after killing a bunch of people he killed himself, supposedly, out of madness, it was karma, in theory.

I personally didn't care if I was the next L, the four-or-so years I've spent here were wasted on me, I was actually questioning why I was still at the orphanage in the first place. People only hung out with me because I was creative in dealing with boredom, and I saw through the holes in the simple one sentence per rule system. After a year the rule list became a lecture.

My brain felt like a bored mush as I swept my ebony black bangs to the side. I sighed and looked at the clock, I still had an hour of this torture until I was free to do whatever I pleased, and that was normally consisted of using my laptop for anything interesting, and of course finding nothing resting on the roof with an apple, sometimes an orange, and any fruit really. I groaned loudly causing the class to snicker, and Roger, the balding part-time teacher full time caregiver to glare at me and set his book down with a little more force that was necessary.

"Alright, I'm letting you out early, go do whatever it is you do. Ebony, may I have a word?" I internally groaned as Roger let everyone leave. I saw a reassuring smile from a few people who enjoyed my antics as they left. I picked up my almost blank spiral and walked to the front of the room, leaning against a table knowing what was to come.

"Now before you lecture me on the importance of effort hear me out. I'm insanely bored, I really don't care about being L's successor, and I enjoy the abnormal. That's why I misbehave and I've tried taking on cases, but they are all the same, the only difference is who the bad guy is." There was a sigh as I was released too. I shrugged and left the room. This was becoming too ritualistic, and like class, it was getting boring.

"So, how'd it go?" asked Matt oh-so innocently. His red hair was framing the goggles that made him infamous to the gaming world, but hid his dark blue eyes from reality. His black and white long sleeve shirt, gloves that almost reached his elbows, and jeans were his typical attire, when we went out he normally donned on a vest with fur lining with pockets deep enough he could bring his DS and a handful of games. I shrugged and pushed some of my mid-length black hair from my crystal blue eyes. I started half skipping down the hall as my best friend buried his nose into his PSP like it was a book.

"He tried to lecture me on effort for the tenth time, this week. I cut him off before he even started. I hate class so much!" I leaned my head back and shouted the last words with emphasis. I heard a chuckle from the gamer beside me. I frowned and looked around, what rule have I not found a loophole to? I wasn't allowed into Roger's office without a "guard" that wasn't Matt or Mello but that never stopped me, I already pranked his office and was awaiting the fruits of that task.

"So now what?" I shrugged and went turned toward rooms, I had no clue on what to do, messing with Mello never ceased to be fun, but he was going to be busy studying, trying to beat Near who appeared to not even care. I smiled and altered the course slightly toward the blonde's room. "You're evil." I heard laced with a chuckle behind me.

"I know," I simply replied. I navigated through the hallways and found Mello's room. I knocked politely and smiled in case the hot-headed blonde decided to actually open the door. This would be monumental if he did. From my first day here Mello ignored me, and I couldn't have that. I pestered him until he realized I was no threat to his precious rank on the board to become L, we exchange some normal conversations, but not many.

"Go away!" yelled Mello. I frowned and opened the door throwing myself on his bed as he spun around on the chair that faced the desk. "What didn't you understand from those words? Aren't you supposed to be smart?" I tapped my chin as I got comfortable, looking up at the white ceiling of the room.

"Yes, if you look at my IQ, but you know I love to bug you so, here I am!" I threw my hands up for emphasis. I heard Matt chuckle as he leaned against the door frame, Mello just frowning in annoyance. He turned toward me and narrowed his eyes, it was working. One for Ebony!

"Shut the hell up would you?" I frowned and sat up, moving my long bangs from my eyes again. I looked at Mello and considered his request. This is how everything normally started, one request and I normally replied with a smart answer and then the chocoholic would chase me threatening to kill me. His black attire seemed to make him more dangerous, but next to Matt he was my best friend.

"Try asking nicely," I suggested with a shrug, putting my index finger on my chin in fake thought. I heard Matt chuckle from the door frame as Mello frowned in anger. His icy blue eyes glowing the dangerous glow that was always the first warning when dealing with him. I wasn't in the mood for exercise however so I was going to have to change the subject and fast.

"Good luck, you should know by now Mello doesn't ask nicely," Matt said lightly not looking up from his game earning his own frown from the blonde. I thought about stealing a piece of chocolate from the hidden chocolate stash under the bed I was sitting on, but I thought ill of it with Mello sitting right in front of me.

"Whatcha doing?"I asked dragging the last word as I shifted my position to hanging upside down from the bed. A glow from the laptop to his left caught my attention. I replayed the last two minutes, the glow wasn't there earlier, in fact I was 86% positive that the laptop was turned off.

"Homework," grumbled the kid in second place of being L's successor. I looked around the dark room, most people expected candles to be lit and positioned around the space he called his own, but it was just black with various posters of chocolate companies, it captured Mello that's for sure.

"Doesn't look like it." My voice continued to have the sing-song quality I knew ticked the genius off. I smiled as he turned and gave me the devil's stare. I shifted into a more comfortable position upside down and tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for the possessed laptop, other than the fact it was haunted. To be perfectly honest I wasn't sure where I stood on the whole ghost concept, I was open to where I'd accept them, but I was a skeptic at heart.

Someone hacking into the computer was a possibility, but the best hacker at Wammy's was leaning against the door frame of the room I was contemplating this in, playing Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII by the sound of it. This was more likely, though who could it be? I made a mental note to ask the red head to track the signal if I couldn't figure it out.

"Why are you hanging upside down?" I stuck my tongue out and looked at the desk, recognizing the Japanese characters that littered his screen. I felt my eyes widen as my brain took over and started translating the words as best as it could from my position. This is what I get from reading a Japanese to English dictionary.

"What are you doing with Japan? And to answer your question I'm upside down because I want to, but I must say this is giving me a killer headache." I saw the red head shake his head at me as I pushed myself off of the bed, doing a flip landing on my feet lightly as I read the headline. "'Man dies of heart attack.' That's not news, people die of heart attacks all the time." I turned my nose up at the article.

"Try reading the entire article dumbass," ordered Mello. I repeated what he said in a mocking tone giving a sassy headshake to go along with it. I took the laptop from the desk and skimmed through the article. I smiled and laughed at the stupidity of the reporters, the doctors and all. The blonde watched me, crossing his arms as I skimmed through it a second time. I paused and looked at his eyes, he hadn't read it himself. This supported my theory of the laptop being turned off when I walked in.

"Try calling them dumbasses, they're saying there was no cause for the heart attack. Heart attacks can be brought on by anything. If this guy was diabetic for example there's a certain chemical that can be added into their insulin, not much, and it can cause a heart attack as well as be undetectable by most doctors. But this is interesting I must say." I noted that this guy was a criminal, odd. It wasn't much of a loss, this guy was holding people hostage, once he died everyone got released, it was too convenient.

"This is no freak heart attack," I mumbled under my breath. I crossed my legs and brought my hands together in front of my face, my elbows resting on my knees. I read the sectioned labeled "related articles" and more headlines with more deaths linked to heart attacks and criminals. This….this was murder, many of them labeled with the name "Kira". Cue the lights going out leaving my face lit up by the screen and ominous music in the background.

"What's this? Is the ever bored Ebony actually interested?" teased Matt. I turned toward him and shrugged nonchalantly. I was, I couldn't deny this. He put the gaming system in his pocket and walked over to sit beside me, hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"Yeah, but L's involved, I'm far behind if this article is dated within the same time the actual death happened. It's almost been about two months, there is no way I can catch up and solve this case with only public knowledge." I closed the lid of the laptop and handed it back to Mello. I stood up and left the dark room, actually thinking about trying on the test tomorrow, just to surprise everyone. I shook my head as I walked into the kitchen and pulled out an apple, looking at the fruit happily.

I went over to the sink and rinsed the fruit under the water and dried it with a towel, inspecting the gleam of the fruit as I took a bite, the sweet juices running down my cheek. I smiled in a small bliss wiping the apple juice from my chin and licking it off, not wanting to waste any. I took a seat, letting the apple work whatever magic it seemed to have.

There wasn't much to go by, only one heart attack that ends up saving about eight people. This was without considering the other articles, those were similar, and they might not even be related. My gut said that they were however. I drummed my fingers on the table and chewed the apple slowly. There was only a slim chance, if I put a number to it, about 12% that this was a murder, since there were a number of other murders, this was an undeniable fact. The question was who? Who was able to go through with these murders? I didn't believe any of the hostages were responsible, I saw a picture of them fleeing, all looked scared at relieved at the same time, but as a detective in training, in theory, I had to suspect all eight of those people.

"You're thinking about something, care to share your thoughts?" I turned to see Near, a small kid who looked almost the complete opposite of me, we both were fair skinned, but he was paler. While I had black hair and wore clothes to match he was in all white. My eyes were a deep medium blue; his was like a sea of grey. I turned my head to the side and thought for a second.

"There was a mysterious heart attack in Japan, seem too convenient. It has me interested. Only about a 12% chance it's a murder," I explained inspecting the apple, purposely leaving out the other details of the case. I saw Near grab a lock of his hair and started twisting it around his finger, his nonchalant expression was nothing new.

"Really? But it's only one death. How does that justify such a conclusion?" I watched as the pale boy sat next to me sitting with one leg on the chair. "But I must agree, the time of his death was too convenient."

"At least we agree on something." I paused and took another bit of my apple and looked at Near, studying his face. "I'm almost done with my magical brain food, I'm going to climb a tree, it's been a while since I've done that. Is it against the rules yet?" Near shook his head. I smiled, things I did normally ended with it getting banned, unless it was something constructive like reading. All the books I wanted to read I had memorized in the Grand Library of Ebony's Brain.

I walked outside, the cold almost winter air of England making goosebumps rise on my skin as everyone outside turned toward me and smiled, when I was involved it was interesting. I smiled and ran over to an oak tree, jumping up and with shaking arms pulled myself up.

"Ebony what's up, what did Roger want?" asked a brunette sitting within the branches looking down at me as I hung upside down from the branch I was sitting on. I looked at her and smiled.

"Just the same old effort speech Shine. I'm actually thinking about trying on the next text to prove to them that I'm not a waste of time," I said. I never did try on the test, I took the time to take a nap, answering the questions randomly, trying on about half of them then getting bored. Shine was about a year younger than me, about 13. I was one of the older kids at the time.

"That's a great idea, make Roger think he finally got through to you and then crush it in an instant after you get the test scores, you're brilliant!" it was evident that she was being sarcastic, the eye roll that followed wasn't necessary. I frowned and stuck my tongue out at her, breaking off a part of the tree and throwing it at the girl.

"Ebony!" yelled Matt. I looked toward him, twisting my hips to get a better view. I opened my mouth to ask what was up, but I found myself falling, landing on my head. I sat up and rubbed the back of my head, closing my eye as I asked him what was going on. "Watari is here and he's asking to see you." I coughed on my own spit, looked at the red-head in goggles in front of me. He nodded as if that was going to make me believe him.

"I don't believe you, give me proof," I said crossing my arms, turning away from the gamer, my head still throbbing. Man, I hope I didn't just give myself a concussion. I felt him trying to pull me inside. I looked at him and dug my fingers into the dirt, yelling that I was being kidnapped by some madman.

"You're really making this difficult," he sighed and let go of my ankles. I turned and smiled triumphantly, the smile quickly disappearing as an old man in a suit appeared behind him. Matt turned and saw Watari, smiling sheepishly and explained how I was being difficult.

Watari was an older man, well into his 70's. His whitish-gray hair lay limply on his head, and he still had more than Roger. His eyes were almost closed and a pair of glasses was positioned perfectly on his nose. Like Roger, he was wearing a suit, however this one looked more expensive. Needless to say it drew the eye away from the deep set wrinkles on his face.

"I was not! You offered no proof, and I'm dead last in the race to become L so why should I believe that Watari, a person who is known to be around said famous detective, wants to talk to me," I defended standing up. "And seeing how he's here, I believe you." I brushed off imaginary dirt knowing I now had a grass stain on my stomach.

"Very well, Miss Ebony would you please follow me," Watari said speaking for the first time. I followed him into the house, people watching stunned as me of all people were getting talked to by this man. I put my index finger on my chin. The laptop acting weird and now a personal visit from Watari, this was too fishy, and it all lead to L. What was he up to?

"Mr. Watari, if this is about my effort level than I must say you'll be wasting your breath. I am however going to actually try not to get bored during my next test," I said slowly, unsure how to talk to the older man. I felt a gentle hand lead me into an office and he closed the door. I turned my head, so much for running.

"Please sit down, and I assure you that you are in no trouble," invited the warm-hearted man. I nodded and sat down uncomfortably, instantly noticing the bowl of purple grapes. I pointed to the bowl and began asking if I could eat some, but Watari cut me off saying it was alright.

"Thank you," I said taking the blue bowl taking five grapes and stuffing them in my mouth. "What's this about?" I asked my voice still clear through all the fruit in my mouth as I began to chew. Watari sat behind his desk and looked at me.

"Near said that you are showing interest in the heart attack that happened in Japan a couple of months ago, is this true?" I paused, dropping the grape back into the bowl in shock, that weasel! I narrowed my eyes slightly, he was lying. L set this up, this proved it! Near wasn't the weasel, it was L. "He also said even though you don't show it you're actually brilliant." I frowned and played with the fruit in my hand as I put it in my mouth, savoring in it. The only test I took seriously was the one I took to get into the orphanage, both Watari and L knew my potential from that single test.

Seeing how this confirmed that the site I got my information from was accurate, that simply meant that unless I were to miraculously join the famous L on this case, my chances on solving this before him was 2%. It wasn't looking promising for Ebony folks. Seeing how Watari was here, I had every right to assume that L was already on the case, though I already knew this from the Old English Text MT "L" that accompanied a title that supported this. I looked into the warm slits of Watari's eyes as he smoothed out the jacket of his suit.

"What do ya wanna know? I don't think I can be of any help, it was a heart attack, there's many things that cause heart attacks. What strikes this as unusual was the fact that nothing in the autopsy showed what possibly could've caused the heart attack. I have a few options, my favorite being the addition to his insulin in the case of him having diabetes. This of course points toward murder, and with my limited information and the atypical status of this case, the probability of L taking it compared to mine are numbers on two totally different sides of the spectrum." I paused and finished off the last grape, frowning at the bowl. "I just answered your question didn't I?" I received a nod, I needed to get better on not spilling everything I thought, or knew, at once unless I was thinking about it, it was a bad habit, I admit it.

I turned my head, toward the door. I excused myself to a brief moment and kicked the door, hearing both Mello and Matt on the other side grumbling in pain. I smiled and sat back down, another thought coming to mind. "It seems like it was an accident. It seems like it was a desperate move, that whoever was in charge of this man's death didn't think it would work. In that case it's anyone who is remotely curious, and that doesn't narrow down the possible suspects if this is in fact a murder case." I pause and looked up from the floor at Watari, slightly blushing. "Uhh… sorry, I forgot I was in here, just thinking."

"It is quite fine Miss Ebony, I actually wanted to see what you thought about this," explained Watari holding his hand up and shook his head. I looked at him there was something else, he wouldn't have pulled me away from my mischief unless something wasn't connected to this. I looked at him and tilted my head, trying to get him to tell me what's going on. I sighed as I responded to the silence.

"L thinks the same thing doesn't he?" I asked almost disappointedly as I hung my head for a moment sighing before looking up again. I received a nod, and I matched his with my own, slower thoughtful nod. "Is that all?"

"Actually, I am sure after I tell L he will want me to come to you asking what you think after hearing that these murderers continued." I sighed and threw my head back, I always wanted to be different. In normal school I was the genius, here I was the dunce, but I knew that L and I had similar thoughts on the same thing, how much he knew about this just from this murder was beyond me. I didn't dare to ask because I figured I wasn't going to get anywhere.

I was released, and it didn't take long for Mello to pin me to a wall and interrogate me. I smiled and let him yell in my face, the smell of chocolate filling the air around me. "What did he want?" he growled, apparently he wasn't called back with Watari. I paused a thought for a moment, unsure how to respond and not die, but I was quickly losing interest.

"He wanted to know what I thought about the weird heart attack. I was right though, it is pointless L is already looking into it." I felt Mello's thumbs digging into my shoulders. I ducked under his punch and started running, so much for a lazy day. I wasn't about to tell him that there was a good chance I was going to better him in the text tomorrow, and he was even going to study.

"Get back here!" I heard behind me. I yelled back a no, and continued running through the house, sliding under a table, biting my tongue to keep from laughing. The table was knocked over while I scrambled to my feet and ran outside, taking refuge in a tree.

"What's happening?" asked Shine. I smiled up at her pulling myself high within the foliage. My arms started aching, my breath coming in shortened gasps as I continued to pull myself higher, not even paying attention to the ripping sound of my right sleeve tearing in the tree.

"The Big Bad Mello is chasing me," I said laughing as he looked up at me from the ground. "Oh, while I'm up here, I think this is the appropriate time to tell you that I plan on taking the test tomorrow seriously, have fun being third!" Mello exploded beneath me, looking for an appropriate rock to throw at me.

"You bitch! You don't even study, how the hell do you think you're going to score better than me?" I paused, he had a point, but then again I've never tried on a test. On the first test I read through the questions, and getting a feel for the gifted population I missed only one, I got fifth. After that I knew getting a perfect score wasn't going to make me stand out so I stopped trying after I figured out how the test worked, about two tests later.

"You have a point, but the last time I actually took a test some-what seriously I only missed one, and it was on purpose. I was fifth, remember? You were so proud of getting second you probably didn't pay much attention to the fact that Matt got third but you did notice like always Near got first." I hung upside down again, smiling in Mello's face. I did a curl up as he tried to punch me. "Missed me!" I laughed as I pulled myself back up and dropped down running, and with my luck bumping into Roger.

"Ebony get your ass back here!" I heard as he didn't see what I just did. I started explaining what was happening, not needing to say much now that Mello was right there yelling at me. "I'm totally going to kill you!" he was grabbing my shirt, cutting me off.

"You two cease this behavior, and go to your rooms!" ordered Roger. The blonde released my shirt. I readjusted the cloth and turned toward the caretaker. The vibrant grass stain on my black t-shirt wouldn't help the position I was in, telling the caretaker that Mello and I weren't fighting was pointless.

"On my way can I get some fruit? I-uh, am actually applying myself toward something and I like fruit." Roger looked at me curiously, unsure how to react. I was being punished so to go with it he should say no to my request, but at the same time I'm showing the initiative, and he didn't want to discourage me.

"I suppose that request is reasonable." Score two for Ebony.

* * *

**So yes, this is another Cannon following fan-fict. I'm trying to focus more on her antics and thoughts during the case rather than re-telling the story. So, any help here (suggestions) would be used eventually. **

**Let me know what you think, I appreciate it. **


	2. Chapter 2 Studying

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, nor do I own Call of Duty, or Star Wars, Mumford and Sons and any other copyrighted material I may have referenced. Ebony and all of her crazyness belongs to me however.**

**Ebony: I belong to no man woman or child! Enjoy anyway**

**Chapter Two "Studying"**

I put a kiwi slice in my mouth and chewed it thoughtfully. The sweet grape like juices brought a slight smile to my face. I heard Mello yelling on the other side of the wall about how I was an idiot. I sighed and tugged at the chain around my ankle. I knew Mello didn't have one, I escaped from my first time-out through the window. Was it that bad that I wanted to make sure Near was alright? The poor kid was getting bullied by Mello of all people so of course I would shoot a water balloon filled with red paint at the blonde. I was in even more trouble, got sent to Roger's office so he could keep an eye on me until these ankle cuffs got sent in. I have to admit, when you knew people who knew people, you got objects quicker than it took to go to the bathroom. After that I, as well as everyone else, was banned on having bobby pins, in case I decided to unlock them.

"You're an idiot! Who bumps into the one that is in charge of punishment?" grumbled Mello for the umpteenth time. I sighed loudly and waited until my laptop got finished the start-up. I pulled out my dark blue iPod and started playing Mumford and Sons' "After the Storm." I found the song calming. It was the kind of song you'd play during a conflict, right before, and then right after the climax. I let the right earbud lay on my chest as Mello continued with his rant on my "idiocy."

I would like to point out that there is a distinct difference between klutziness and being a downright idiot. A klutzy person is someone known to miscalculate and make many, many mistakes. Yes, this does include running straight into the one who administers punishment. An idiot would yell "Hey Roger!" waving his/her arms above his/her head jumping up and down, basically anything to get their attention.

"Apparently I do. I am so sorry I gave you an excuse for studying," I yelled back putting a hand on my chest as if it hurt my heart for him to be in the position he was in. I heard a thump on the other side of the wall. I walked to the wall, my right foot not touching the floor as I knocked on the wall again, harder than the blonde had. The next pound shook the wall. I laughed as another metallic clank was heard. Another prank successfully executed.

"EBONY!" Mello yelled no doubt covered in hot pink paint. "You're going to die and then I'll find a way to bring you back from hell and send you right back do you hear me?" Saying Mello was mellow at that point was the understatement of the century. He was probably so mad that he was probably going to be on an Ebony hunt for the next couple of years. Air vents, please lead somewhere other than Roger's office, 'kay thanks.

I clicked on the internet icon, hoping Matt had my back, I knew my internet was blocked. I paused at the screen. _You are supposed to be studying Ebony. R. _"Really? Me study, he's lucky I'm not trying to pick the lock," I muttered. I crossed my arms knowing that someone knew by now that I was locked up, interested in the Kira case, and was blocked from the internet.

"Say please," said a voice from my computer. I smiled and tapped my chin in thought. I pulled out my spiral from that morning and flipped to a clean page and started drawing Mello covered in paint, how I had envisioned it in my mind, scowl on his face included for no extra charge.

"I could, or I could promise to play you in any game of your choosing," I bribed raising my eyebrow knowing he was probably looking in from the webcam on my laptop. My pride was massive at that point, I wouldn't beg for my internet. Begging is for the weak, trickery and bribery for the win! That and because just submitting and saying "please" was boring, and as I've said this place needs more crazy and interesting. Quirky geniuses collected together aren't cutting it anymore.

"…deal," came Matt's voice again as the page reloaded onto Yahoo news. Victory! I looked around as if I was afraid someone was peaking at me through the small window of the closet of a room, there was enough room for a bed, dresser closet, desk and for me to disregard the desk and sit on the floor. I punched the air and yelled out "Three Ebony, half a point for Wammy's house!" I laughed as there was a knock at the door, which mysteriously unlocked itself and opened. Alright, the ghost idea was starting to look legit.

I felt my head turn toward the door as Near stood there twirling his hair like normal. He saw me chained to the bed, and the bed was screwed in the floor. He used his other hand and put a bobby pin into his hair. I felt my eyes widen, how did that jet black bobby pin not stick out like a mad Mello in his mess of white hair? I smiled at him as he sighed. "Is it impossible for you to not get in trouble?" he asked as I put another Kiwi in my mouth a spiral opened next to me. I shrugged, unsure if I was going to bother to take notes.

"Maybe, but I'd be bored," I replied as the small boy looked around the room and saw the assorted fruit. I paused at the lie that statement was, even though I am locked in this room six days a week I am still bored."Alright, more bored than I already am, happy?" I reached for a banana and held it out to him. "Want one?" he shook his head. "Then I'd leave, you could get in trouble for talking to me. You don't have to worry about Mells, he's in the middle of a temper tantrum when he could use this time to study." Near looked at the wall that separated the rooms as Mello started yelling profanities that deserved to be washed out with soap, and Mello cusses a lot around me to begin with so if I'm saying he needs soap it's worse than normal. I was starting to wonder if Mello had man-periods.

"He'll be fine. I heard you were going to take the next test seriously, I came here to confirm this," Near started tearing his eyes from the wall and studied my "studying" habits. "Though from what I can see now and what I can conclude I should review the curriculum slightly more than average if this were to be true." I smiled apologetically as he closed the door, locking it with the bobby pin.

"You heard that didn't you?" I asked looking at the laptop with the "You dirty eavesdropper" expression on my face and my hands on my hips as I straightened my back just to feign the appearance I suddenly grew two or three inches. Matt chuckled as I typed in "Kira" in the search bar, all thoughts of me being a force to be reckoned with was long forgotten.

"Yup, so I was thinking we could play some Call of Duty when you get bored, it'll be a nice refresher." I chuckled and rolled my eyes as a link caught my eye. I clicked on it, a fan-made website for "Kira." There was a list, separated by days on when people had heart attacks, all were criminals, some were at large when they died, most were already convicted in jail serving their time. All had what crimes they had committed written next to their name. To me killings these criminals were pointless, they'd been caught and were serving their time.

Kira obviously saw things differently; he probably thought that because they were criminals, they deserved to die. That because they ruined someone's life theirs deserved to be ruined permanently. This was too idealistic, and it brought back bad memories of mine. With a shake of my head, I pushed those back as I continued to look at the list, noticing the distinct heavy deaths within Japan.

I looked at my chain and tugged it, looking for another piece of kiwi to put in my mouth. I frowned, I ate all three tiny fruits in a matter of a few minutes. I sighed and reached for a banana, and peeled the fruit, tugging at my binding a little harder, the chain hitting the metal leg of my bed. I had this on because I was notorious for "not learning my lesson." Criminals were the same way, they get sent to jail, but the possibility that they will be a repeat offender is about, 34% by my calculations if they're busted for something like theft or any type of violence. I simply didn't learn my lesson because I was bored.

So either this "Kira" wanted to purge the world of evil, or he was still skeptical of this…ability he had to kill people. I copied the list and wrote "Kira" on the page. This was just for show, me forgetting this information was impossible. I did notice that every day after the 28th of November, he hadn't stopped killing, and there was an increase on the weekends. This meant he had no work, possibly even school, on the weekends, every weekend.

I concluded that there was a 66% chance of Kira being male, the number of killings were too numerous in relation to the first killing, a woman is typically more emotional about this sort of thing and will often show hesitance before continuing, assuming she does continue. I paused at the name Lind L Tailor, he had a star and in parenthesis said "Not really L" next to it.

"Hey Eb, please don't tell me Kira killed you. If you're dead please say nothing" said Matt in a fake panic. I jumped at his voice and leaned back as my heart pounded in my chest. That kid almost gave me a freaking heart attack, people sneaking up from the door was one thing, I had a slight forewarning. This was deadly, especially since Kira was the heart attack master. I frowned threw the banana peel in my trashcan, grabbing a plum to take its place.

"I'm fine, healthy as a horse" I said with my mouth full. "Like we established, I'm interested in this 'Kira' person." I swallowed the food and continued. "Dude this case is deep, I've only found a list of dead people, and this is only scratching the surface. Kira, I'm thinking, didn't know he was going to kill that first guy. However, either he's made an incredible discovery on the human circulatory system or he's a freaking wizard."

"Looks like you should study more often." I smiled and shook my head, complaining that I pointed out that trying to solve a case with public information wasn't studying, rather than a challenge. "Uh-huh…" I heard a few gun shots in the background, he was already playing. I finally pushed the back button, knowing L he had all the information under lock and virtual password key that nobody would figure out simply because nobody, even us poor orphan saps didn't know what he looked like.

I blew air out of my mouth, my lips vibrating together as I threw the seed of my plum to the trash can, missing entirely. My eyes narrowed as I held my hand toward the discarded seed and concentrated on it. Nope, I still didn't have the power of the force. Darth Vader was still not my father, it's all good people! I pulled myself across the carpet with my legs, similar to how a dog scratches its butt, and threw the seed away.

"Alright hook me up. I'm done for now, still have a few pieces of fruit, I'll…never mind can't leave the room. You escape one time and then you're chained to your bed for life."I crawled back to my laptop as I almost yelled this across the small room. I heard Matt scoff from my laptop as the screen changed to the familiar pc version of Call of Duty. I got myself ready and found my head set, plugging it in as I was put in a game.

"In a world of boredom, two gamers answer the call. Are you ready to save our fragile psyche Kage?" asked Matt finishing his movie trailer parody with a perky question.

"Ready if you are Aka," I said casually, we were a pretty good pair, I had the strategy, he the gaming know-how. The map loaded, we tended to gravitate toward the forest maps. It was easy to get lost, but I tended to use this to my advantage when Matt wasn't yelling in my ear for getting lost in the first place, but I was familiar enough with this map. "Hey, looks like I'm not getting lost here." I said through the microphone.

"Really? Man Kage, I knew you didn't apply yourself often, but the effort goes down even lower when you're playing games, if that's even possible. Now, are you sure that you belong here, I thought this school was for 'gifted kids.'" replied Matt using the cover for the orphanage. I smiled and explained it wouldn't be fair if I actually tried, same thing went with him, he shut up after that until a third party joined in with our conversation.

"How 'bout you two noobs shut the hell up and play," we both heard. I grabbed my bowl of grapes from my bed and started snacking on them, couldn't let good fruit go to waste. I went prone and pulled out a sniper, noting where everyone was, and spitting coordinates into the microphone for Matt. About a year ago, when we really started playing this game we devised our own way to call out positions. However, I was in charge breaking down the map and assigning each square its respectful codename. I had to basically walk from edge to edge and then piecing the pieces together.

I watched him go in, me covering his tail from my hidden position, I had one shot here and I would have to move, I had about five spots on this map, and by then between the two of us we'd easily cream the other team, no matter how outnumbered we were. "Mario kisses Peach," I muttered telling him that there was an enemy behind him and closing in.

"Yes he does," Matt muttered back killing one of the guys with his knife and then going prone to shoot the second one in his head. "Bon-apatite Zombies, fresh brains a la bullet wound."

After a while Matt and I were wiping the floor clean. "Who's the noobs now?" I asked like the smart-alek I was, knifing my fourth person in a row. Normally the two of us would high five at this moment, but we really couldn't in my position. I wondered if Roger forgot about me, normally I could hear him coming, and I could hide my mischief easily.

"Calm down, three o'clock." I turned my mouse and shot a person trying his hand at being a ninja in the head. I yelled out in victory, only to get a knock from my neighbor, on the wall. I paused, so Mr. Melodramatic actually decided to build a bridge and get over it, after an hour of me ignoring his yelling from the paint incident.

"Shut the hell up, I'm actually studying here!" I pounded back and yelled that I really didn't care about his grade, having fun was my main concern. "Try reading a damn book, see if that's fun for ya."

"That's only going to entertain me for a few minutes and you know it," I yelled in rebuttal as the round ending, to no one's surprise that Matt and I, along with the rest of our team won. "These people bore me, wanna find another game?"

"Your attention span is so short it's phenomenal how you don't die in class." I smiled knowing that he couldn't see it. There had never been a case where someone has actually died of boredom. I was safe, even though I was out of fruit, it was disappointing. "Though, the weekly 'Ebony you're a dead-beat good for nothing' speeches always give me an opportunity to really try on boss battles."

"Hey someone's coming, afk." I closed the lid of the computer and hid it under my pillow, grabbing a text book and started throwing pencils at it, typical behavior for me. I needed tape, not just any tape, bright red masking tape that I wasn't supposed to have but Roger knew I had because I used it multiple times to sign my pranks. Now, it doesn't seem smart to "sign" a prank, but I was proud of them. The footsteps got gradually louder as someone jingled keys, either Mello was being released, or we both were, or this was just a potty break, I couldn't say for sure. I crawled across the room, my chained leg stretched all the way out as I listened to Mello's release speech.

"You should really try getting along with her, you two might end up working together someday," I felt my breath catch, it was Watari, and the fact Mello was covered in paint wasn't being questioned. I was started getting annoyed, never has he spent a substantial amount of time here, but now ever since I got interested in this "Kira" person, I sensed that he wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon. This was a test, and if I failed, which I was so tempted to purposely do, I had a feeling I'd be kicked out and sent to another orphanage. I was thinking about messing around, make it seem like my brilliant mind, or my interest level fluctuated with the moon, perfect since the full moon started tonight. It wasn't going to be the weirdest thing here, everyone had their quirks. Alright, I had too much free time to be making a plan like this, and it was becoming expected that I'd have some off the wall plan. Unacceptable, this time I will act how people want me to.

I moved back to my bed and hung upside down from it, finishing off the oranges I had found, they were still a little cold, they were good. I started thinking back to the case. The probability of me getting anywhere on my own in this case was slim to none, what was even less likely was L himself asking for my assistance. He liked to work alone from what I gather, that means our personalities would clash. I liked people personally, they were never the same from person to person, and they each looked at me either as a comic relief, or an annoyance, never as a smart person who would even be considered of being L's successor.

"Miss Ebony, I trust that you've been looking into the Kira Case," said Watari as Roger unlocked the door. I sighed and nodded, reaching for the last of my orange slices, and the last of my fruit. "Roger here tells me you've never studied a day in your life." I smiled in pride and pointed to my book target. It was psychology, and I read it once, and it was once too many. If you guessed it was interesting, you were right. However, it was as if I was drinking sand.

"That's true," I replied sitting up letting the handcuff come off of my ankle. I picked up my laptop from under my pillow and was thankful when the game was shut down. I sat crossed my legs and searched for Kira again. "They've been occurring in greater numbers than I thought. Honestly, I thought that it was maybe fifteen people, but other than that I found a lot of fan sites. Apparently people are starting to worship this guy like he's god." I shook my head and clicked on the link before. "I found this though, it's a list of some of the kills this Kira has made. However, if you can, could you explain the Lind L. Tailor scenario to me?" Mello walked past my room, frowning as I got my spiral out and looked over my notes. I just busted out laughing at the pink in his hair and clothes. It was as if a unicorn barfed on him, or sneezed it looked more like a glob of snot just devoured him. "I'm sorry," I said after I was done laughing, "just tell me what happened, not L's thoughts on it, I don't want his judgment influencing my own."

Watari looked at me and nodded. He sat on my bed and I took notes. Lind L. Tailor, was obviously not L, just as the website said. He was just a criminal whose crimes and arrest were hidden from the world. I assumed L had planned on using him from the start, solving the case on the side and solving it for the soul propose of catching Kira. He was on death row when L "saved him" putting him on TV pose as the detective, being anonymous really had its perks, and promptly get killed. L was having him give a speech and it was live, and eventually it was going to be shown around the world, the first broadcast was in Tokyo, where Tailor died, ending the need to continue the hunt. I finished writing the story and looked around the room at the empty plastic bowls. I frowned when I found all my fruit had been eaten, for real this time.

"Miss Ebony," began Watari, "May I see your notes, possibly send them to L?"I paused, and looked at the old man. I flipped through my notebook, it was only five pages, excluding the story about Lind Tailor. The unlikely had just become reality, on my notes alone it wouldn't say much, only the basic thoughts I had, basic thoughts anyone would've had. The wording suggested that I suspected more, a lot more, than what the words suggested.

"Uh, sure I guess." I handed the small spiral to the assistant and he walked off, leaving me and Roger. "So, am I still in trouble?"

"No, you're free, try not to get into too much trouble." I smirked at the man and said I'd try. I stood up and started to go outside, but I must've lost track of time, it was dark out there. I turned as I heard the sounds of dinner, great I was starving. I walked in and sat down, seeing the food and smiling as I filled my plate up. I was surprised the food was still warm, it was chicken night, one of my favorite nights, there was always a surplus in food, and that suited me just fine.

"How are you still able to consume that amount of food?" asked Near a few chairs down. I looked at my plate, the ceramic surface was cloaked by the steamy goodness of chicken, mashed potatoes, and even a little corn. Everyone then asked what he meant; I always ate this amount of food at the dinner table. I then gave a little laugh and everyone turned their attention to me. I scanned the table slowly, unsure that everyone was looking at me, which they were. Mello had showered during Story time with Watari.

"He asks that because I had three kiwis, two oranges, a bunch of grapes, a plum, and four bananas before dinner, I burned all the calories thinking," I said. There was a collective gasp and Matt took this opportunity to put in his two cents. He stood up and pointed at me with his fork, corn falling out of his mouth, how attractive.

"Oh yeah, Ebony here is up there with L trying to figure out who Kira is," he said after he swallowed. I shot him my best "shut the hell up," face, but Mello took care of it by roughly smacking him in the back of head. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth and I gave in and smiled.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks Mello," He nodded in return, and then I was bombarded with questions. Who was Kira? Was I going to be working with L? Where is L? Eventually I was getting sick of it and it was evident by the venom filled stabbing of my chicken. "Can I not eat? I know it's the first time I have actually applied myself and you might want to compare notes, however I'm sure I'm under some unsaid word of secrecy. I know the main point is to see how smart I really am." I inhaled and rolled my eyes. "I'm actually trying on the test tomorrow, not only because I want to see your faces, but because I want to see how I rank. I do have an idea though, just want to see it on paper." There was another collective gasp. For geniuses I have to say this was a little disappointing, twice in one night shame on them.

"Ebony are you sure? What if you do so well you actually get called to work with L?" asked a little boy that I wasn't sure what his name was. I paused and tapped my chin in thought before I came to my conclusion, if I said yes everyone would hate me, but if I didn't go I was going to go mad because of my curiosity not being stifled.

"Then I guess you're all going to hate me." There was a collective "No Duh!" from the table, Mello even threw some food at me. I looked at the splattered food and frowned. "Now Mello didn't Watari ask you to try to be friends with me? I only annoy you because it's fun." I ducked again as more food was thrown.

"Shut-up!" he yelled. I ducked for a third time and picked up my own handful of food and threw it at Mello, hitting him square in the left eye. I picked up my chicken and started running as death threats rang through the house. I took a bite of my chicken as an idea popped in my head, it was so going to work if I didn't die.

"Come-on Mello, are you sure you want to kill me?" I asked tilting my head to the side as I perched myself on Mello's bed, threatening to reach for the loose floor board that kept his stash of chocolate. I saw the blonde's eyes widen as he saw what I was about to do.

"Don't you dare, I'll kill you!" I paused at turned away from him as I sighed, closed my eyes, bowed my head and shook it. I narrowed my eyes and pulled the piece of wood out, taking two chocolate bars out and replacing the wood. I held one piece of chocolate in front of his face and looked in his eyes.

"I might consider telling you something, if you promise to be quiet. I have just proven where your hidden candy stash is, I plan on stealing something from Matt's hidden game collection and the white king from Near's chess set. Meet me in my room and we'll compare notes," I said quietly letting my bangs fall into my eyes, my voice for once in my life dead serious. Mello nodded I smiled and left with the chocolate, taking pit stops in Matt's and Near's room, knowing they'd come to my room anyway.

I hid the items and closed the door, going back to enjoy what was left of my dinner, Mello staring daggers at me. I smiled and stuffed a fork-full of mashed potatoes, waiting to be dragged to my room and forced to spill my information. I started kicking my feet innocently.

"Ebony!" I laughed so hard my chair fell all the way back, my head hitting the ground. That's twice now for those keeping track at home. I rubbed my head and held my stomach as I felt Matt's footsteps ring though out the orphanage, Mello close at his heals. I heard my name called again as I gasped for air, this was more fun than I thought it was.

I opened my eyes to see the dining room disappearing into the catacombs of the dorm rooms. I looked and saw Matt's black and white shirt gazing my arm as I was being forcefully dragged to my room, Near being useful by holding the door to my room open. I nodded to him as I was forcefully let go, the wind being knocked out of me. Mello held my hands to the ground as I really started to get scared, they were teaming up, I knew I couldn't outsmart all three of them.

"Where is it?" yelled Matt. I didn't reply, I merely just shook my head stubbornly as I struggled against Mello's grasp. As expected he just tightened his grasp, leaving me there to sigh in defeat. I really hated seeing the calm and collected guy mad, it tugged at my heart, where as when he smiled it left my heart feeling feel light.

"Fine I submit! I'll give you back your treasures, on one condition," I said yelling the first sentence as I saw Matt getting ready to tickle me, the worst torture known to mankind. I was released in an instant, sitting up rubbing my shoulders. "Near it's in the top drawer in the dresser, Matt under the bed. Mello, in my stomach, but I took two when I was in your room, look on the bedside table. Now, are we happy?" There was a collective nod. "Now for my end of the bargain, I just want to make sure I'm not crazy. Kira, thoughts?" The room became silent. "I'd share my notes, but Watari asked if he could show them to L."

"L wants to see your notes?" asked Matt, his eyes growing wide from underneath his goggles. I was unsure whether he was shocked at the fact I took notes, to that L wanted to see them. "That's amazing!" He threw up his arms in happiness and hugged me. I felt my cheeks turn red and my heart start to beat a little bit quicker. Matt released me, looking a little more red than normal, a thoughtful look crossing his face, "Anyway in all seriousness, why am I here?"

"Because as of right now, you are the third smartest person, you think obtusely, using games while Mello, and I stuff our faces, and Near plays." There was a grumble from Mello and Near shrugged. "Just say what you think Matt."

"Well…I kinda hacked into the police mainframe, and according to L, he is a student. The killings take place from mid-afternoon until late at night, pausing for sleep and school would be my guess, even serial killers need sleep. Personally I think he's crazy. From the amount of kills he shows no remorse toward them." I nodded and crossed my arms as Mello bit into the chocolate bar. It was clear to me that the red head used a translator, the documents were in Japanese, I was sure of it.

"Blondie?" I asked knowing it would tick him off. He almost threw his chocolate at me, and I was ready to eat it if he did. He then looked at the chocolate bar and decided to just glare at me with murderous intent. "Sorry, _Mister_ Blondie." I smiled and leaned back on my bed.

"Kira, if he is indeed a student, will be arrogant, thinking nothing can stop him. This could explain why the bastard hasn't stopped killing." I nodded. "Also, he hates people going against him. The normal teenager wants to rebel, so he's probably rebelling by killing." I had to admit Mello was a pleasant person to work with when he wasn't mad.

"Kira might have a utopia in mind. If he is only killing criminals, he seems to want to make the world a better place in theory, crime rates have no doubt dropped," added Near as if he was bored. He was staring off into space, a dazed look in his eye. It was as if he was in his own world, that we weren't there.

"Name and a face, that's all he needs to kill, what he uses after that is beyond me, or anyone at this point, right sir hacks-a-lot?" He nodded. "He's also in Tokyo, or around the city, and I'm almost positive Kira is in fact male. All of this was proven in the killing of Lind L Tailor. L used him to see if Kira could kill without being present." I was hugging my knees in thought, losing the touch of reality in my stare, picking a random spot on the floor to stare at. That one spot was now permanently etched into my memory, great, just great.

"We could assume that, you used a pronoun," said Mello frowning at me. I paused and smiled at the memory of me spending the first month of my stay at the Wammy house unsure whether he was in fact a he. I held up my hands in defeat as Matt froze, he had my white laptop. We all turned to him, both Near and I snapping back to reality.

"Uh guys," he said turning the laptop toward us. On the screen was an L typed in Old English MT font. The air was tense, I wish I had a pin to drop. My stomach started tying itself in knots. I felt my eyes grow wide as I leaned forward, turning my head to the side. Surely, it wasn't him. He was too busy to mess with us, even though this is where he grew up. I smiled the kind of smile that compelled one to close their eyes and speak in an overly perky voice as I sat back.

"Hiya!" I said waving toward the screen, getting a disapproving glance from Mello. I shrugged at him, when computers started acting possessed, might as well be friendly and answer them. Matt and Near were both looking at me, the one who showed emotions was looking at me with the "I can't believe you just did that" look, Near looked at me with a calculating stare.

"Is this Ebony?" replied the screen, the voice was very synthesized, so much so it'd take Matt an hour to make this voice sound like a human's. I paused to look around, I was a little nervous, but the nerves seen in everyone else's eyes were tenfold more than my own.

"This is her," I replied. "May I assume this is L?" I laid down on my bed, hanging upside down, half thinking it was a joke. I smiled at the ceiling, not even looking at the laptop. It wouldn't matter in my opinion, if it was L I wouldn't change how I was acting.

"Yes, I am L." I coughed on my spit and clenched my fists around the black comforter to prevent another head injury that day. "Ebony, I would like to invite you to help me with this investigation. If you accept you'll be sent off to Japan the day after tomorrow if all goes as planned." I rolled over, now laying on my stomach. I hit my chest a few times to stop from coughing and let my breath settle down enough to where I could stop.

"….Are you sure? If you really are L, no offence I don't trust synthesized voices from my computer, for all I know this is Matt getting back at me from stealing his game," Matt shook his head, his eyes almost breaking the lenses of his goggles, this was really L from what he knew " Alright, never mind. Then you should know how I rank here, dead last. I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be much help in the investigation, I'm too easily distracted." I found a speck of dust and went cross-eyed starting at it, thinking about where dust came from.

"I see. I still encourage you to come, Watari informed me on the fact you're going to applying yourself to the upcoming test tomorrow, I'll be awaiting your results." I looked at my closest friends. Mello rolled his eyes, Near still looked disinterested, but his eyes were glued to the screen nevertheless. "You mentioned Matt, and you keep shifting your gaze around the room. May I assume that all three of them are present in the room with you?"

"They are," I said keeping my voice as calm and level as I could. "Is that a problem? I wanted to make sure I wasn't thinking too abstract, but I actually seem to be doing alright. I asked about Lind L. Tailor to Watari, asking to keep your thoughts out on the issue, though I was positive he wasn't going to share that anyway." I shook my head and let the dust float away, looking back at the screen, going through the fonts in my head trying to decide on what my letter would look like if I were to be L.

"No, actually I encourage this, self-doubt never solves anything. So, Ebony your answer?" I inhaled, as Matt cleared his throat. I lifted my head slightly and looked at him. He nodded slowly, mouthing something along the lines of web-cams, I don't know, I'm not the best lip reader. His eyes looked sad, like deep down he wanted me to stay, and that was understandable.

"I'll do it," I said with a sigh. Matt smiled at me with encouragement, he always was one to well, not kill me unless we were on opposite teams during a Call of Duty game. I tuned toward Mello, he was a bright pink and looked like he was going to kill me. "Mello you look good in pink." I laughed as he tackled me to the ground, yelling at me for insulting him. I didn't struggle, I was just going to wait until he got off of his high horse and calm down.

"Mello, please get off of Ebony, she may be childish, but so is Kira and myself, we both hate to lose. I think Ebony's behavior may aid in our investigation. From what I've seen she doesn't mind losing." He was right, I have never won a game of chess to Near, and we've played more games than I could count. Granted I wasn't counting to begin with, but it was a lot of games let me assure you.

"Our?" mumbled Near as he blinked a few times, coming back to his senses. "L, are you implying that you have reveled yourself to other people?" What? If L had done that, then just how important was this case? Surely this case didn't mean life and death to everyone on the planet, no that was an exaggeration. It didn't change the fact that my life was now on the line.

"Not yet, but I predict the Japanese task force will have some trouble within the next couple of days and the numbers will dwindle to those who are truly committed to the case. Ebony, I want you to be there when that happens."

"Alright." There was a pause until L said he had to go, believable. I sighed and covered my eyes with my hands. "Like I said, what is said here doesn't leave the room." I felt Matt's arms pull me into a hug, a warm feeling spread through me. Yes, I liked him, I _really_ liked him, but even I, the gutsiest person at Wammy's didn't have the guts to tell him that.

* * *

**And now responses to my reviewers :3**

**To Hello-Tortoro-Ninja****: I want my cookie! :D I have to say it was an effective way to convince me to edit this chapter.**

_**Ebony: **_**What about me? Do I get a cookie Bribe?**

_**Pie**_**: I'll share the cookie. **

_**Ebony: **_**Nah, I'll just steal more of Mello's chocolate. Don't tell him 'kay?**

**To: ****Chocoholics Unite: ****Ebony look, you have a fan! **

_**Ebony: **_**Yay! Now I have someone else to talk to, no offense Pie, but your craziness and my craziness clash in a way that I'm surprised that the world is still in one piece. I'll steal you piece of Mel's chocolate too. :-) **

_**Mello: **_**No you won't that's my chocolate bitch! Touch it again and die. **

_**Ebony: **_***Throws chocolate to fans* :3 Eat my loyal subjects! I'll distract the blonde-headed bull.**

_**Mello: **_**You're dead. *Chases Ebony***

_**Pie: **_**Oh dear….Does anyone have popcorn? **

**In all seriousness, kind of, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the after show entertainment. Let me know what you think, prank ideas that she could play on Roger or Task Force or random people off of the street, I'm always open for ideas. **


	3. Chapter 3 I'm Not Gonna Cry

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, however Ebony is owned by me.**

**Chapter Three I'm Not Gonna Cry**

I jumped at a thud from the other side of the wall, the equilibrium of the books barely balanced on top of each other on the surface of my desk was severely challenged. I grumbled the same as every morning. I buried my face into the white pillow that stood out against the black comforter, not paying attention to Mello reminding me that I had to get up, like I could forget with sir-studies-a lot. Rolling back over onto my back, I rubbed my eyes, as I looked around my empty room, there was a suitcase keeping my chair warm, and shockingly I was able to close it with a secret technique. Alright it wasn't that much of a secret, I had Mello's chocolate stash on the lid of the suitcase as I zipped it, it's amazing how much a hundred candy bars weighed.

I slowly sat on the top of my bed and rubbed my eye with one hand and ran my hand through the silky strands of hair with the other, dislodging them from the back of my head. Must've sweat in my sleep last night, which I totally didn't understand. It was the late December and Roger liked to "save money" on heat so if it started snowing in the middle of the hallway I wouldn't be surprised. In fact, I'd make a snow angel and pretend I couldn't find Near, claiming he's too white. I went into the bathroom and took a shower, deciding that I should get ready for the day, don't want to be late now do I?

I stepped out and dressed in an Avenged Sevenfold T-shirt and skinny jeans, I slipped on my black converse on as Mello yelled at me again from the other side of the wall. I smiled and pounded on the barrier in response yelling at Mello to not get his panties in a bunch. This didn't help improve the ever-cranky blonde's mood, I was starting to think he was always going to be crabby, no matter what I did he hasn't ever smiled, only scowled.

I walked out of my room and found my way to the kitchen, grabbing about two bananas an apple, and two sliced mangos. I rinsed off the fruit, and even though I hated to do so, I put all the fruit into one bowl and turned around, Matt leaning against the door frame. His nose was already buried into his dark blue PSP, the familiar sound of boxes smashing and metal clanking mixed in with the sound of the "Cha-ching" of money radiating from the gaming system. I tilted my head to the side, Ratchet and Clank, one of his favorites. Did Matt even have a favorite game? That was something I was going to have to ask him. I mean, sure he sometimes singled out a game and focused on that one game for a extensive period of time, three weeks, but once he's beaten the game and found all the secrets he put it away because by then he's moved on.

"Morning!" I said perkily looking at the red head. He smirked and shook his head, lifting it from the screen not understanding how once I reluctantly got out of the warm comfort of a bed I was hyper as always. I walked up to him and he put his hands in the tan vest he was so fond of wearing. The game was no doubt paused and was being saved for when he got tired of testing and needed a break. He nudged me as we walked into the classroom slash prison.

"So, are you ready to try and totally pwn?" He held his fist up, me meeting it with my own as I copied his smile with my own. Sure I was "smart" but was I smart enough to rename the test from "Wammy's mental trials" to "Ebony's epic comeback?" I didn't think so, I think that I was going to get second, I've played games with Near for years and do you want to know how many times I've won? None, zip, zilch, zero, nada, none, a big goose egg, bup-kiss, I'm a graceful loser.

Actually it was bad strategy, I let half of my side of the board get captured before I started playing moving the wooden pieces in a way to where I might actually capture something, but I'm playing with the albino genius I was dead when I sat down. It was fun though, if he was in the mood he'd start a conversation mostly over a random topic in my head that day. Even though he doesn't show any signs toward liking my companionship, I was sure he did.

"Sure, if by that you mean I hide out in my room, or have you protect me from the Tasmanian blonde devil when he finds out that I kick him from his not-so-proud position of second," I responded shaking like a leaf trying to hold in my laughter. Matt chuckled and nudged me playfully again. I realized I hadn't had my spiral returned to me, it was killing me. Whenever we'd have a test I would doodle in my spiral depicting the misadventures of Mello and me, and when I was done I'd show them to Matt, he always got a kick out of them. "Gaming marathon before I leave? It'll be the last time we can play and fist bump at the same time."

"Of course, what about Near? You two always play chess once a week," he pointed out. This was going to be a tricky problem to fix, both of us preferred the physical game, but there were always other options. I asked about an online chess game, it'd be easier to keep up our tradition, the one I had with Mello I was going to have to get even more creative. "Yeah I can set you up, never underestimate me Eb, you should know this by now." I smiled innocently as Matt put his hand on his chest acting like he was hurt.

"Thank god! I thought I was going to have to go without my distraction!" I put my hands over my heart exaggerating my fake distress of losing the games I only used to stifle boredom. Matt and I walked into the classroom laughing. Everyone turned toward me, some with encouragement, others with jealousy. All in all the room was deathly quiet, so quiet if I had the urge to fart I couldn't because everyone and their dead mom would hear it. Now before you go all "Ebony that was mean" keep in mind, my mommy is dead too, I am in an orphanage for a reason.

"Matt, please tell me they don't know," I asked in a whisper, using my hand as a magical sound barrier that doesn't actually worked. We both looked around, some people started murmuring about something that couldn't be decoded from the rest of the crowd. I did hear one thing, the letter "L" was the subject. So, that's the genius orphanage for ya. Rumors turn into people interrogating the others and then once a sliver of truth or conformation it just launches into over speculation until a person goes mad and tells everyone. It's very effective.

"Well I could Ebony, but we both know that if I did I'd be lying," he said matter-of-factly not bothering with the magical hand barrier. I turned toward him and then back at the other twenty some-odd geniuses in the room, at that time, there were about fifty of us here in all. How we all managed to be here at the same time without anyone getting an elbow in the face was beyond me, the classroom was only about as big as two closet bedrooms without the wall. I sat down at my lonely black table and put the bowl on the surface of the black stained wood, noticing there was a note. _Good Luck, L._

"So that's how they found out. Man, the things you learn when you read," I said like I was given the secret to the universe. Matt looked over my shoulder at it and agreed with me. I smiled as the idea of "if I'm going down, I'm taking you down with me" popped into my head. I stood on my chair and cleared my throat so loudly that it almost hurt, I really need to stop hurting myself. Eh, whatever. "Attention, I know you guys can't mind your own business and 86% of you guys have read my personal letter that should've been sealed with wax in my opinion. Anyways my point for standing up is simple, Matt, Mello and Near also 'heard' L when he talked to me last night," I said air quoting the word, it didn't seem right to just say "hear" when his voice was synthesized technically we heard a computer program, but I wasn't in the mood to point this out. Plus it was also funnier letting everyone else think I actually heard his real voice.

I stepped off of the desk as Mello walked in looking rather distracted. Matt and I smirked at each other as we both held up three fingers and put on down in a steady rhythm. Two….one, and then the genius finally becomes aware.

"Why the hell are you looking at me? I know I don't have chocolate on my face," Mello said pointing toward his face when he noticed everyone was looking at him like he was a bug. I smiled as I sat on my cheap plastic chair, putting my feet on the table top and started pushing the chair so it was balancing on two legs. I stared at the ends of my hair, my eyes going cross.

"They're looking at you because you were scolded by L for tackling me last night. Only, they didn't know you tackled me, and this sounded extremely perverted. Huh, but given our 'friendship' I don't think that was implied before I said something. Ya know what, I'm going to shut up." Matt had taken his PSP out at this point and looked up at me with a raised eyebrow as if saying, "thanks, you weren't going to get yourself out of that hole."

"Their jealousy may be justified, but the final outcome result will end with their scores decreasing slightly," mumbled Near walking in his face still emotionless. "Ebony, may I request we participate in a few more games of chess before you depart?" He started twirling his hair around his finger and stared at the floor. I let my chair fall forward as I started question if those repercussions would be in effect with Near and Mello. Matt was like me, didn't really care and he didn't care for the effort speeches either so he tired to the point people wouldn't question whether or not he had an ounce of intelligence in his head.

"Sure, I was going to see if you'd be interested in continuing the tradition online," I responded sitting on the table and kicking my feet slowly. He turned toward Matt and then nodded after looking at me already figuring out what we had agreed on. I smiled and pushed myself off of the desk, draping my arms over Mello and Matt smiling. "I'll be wanting a group hug before I leave." Roger walked in and the small pockets of people were dispersing as we took our "respectful" ranks Near was first sharing a table with Mello and Matt, and I was alone, with the chair on my right also pulled out so I could sit sideways in the chair. I preferred the chairs with arm rests, they were more comfortable sitting in sideways than these cheapos.

"Alright, so I can confidently say that, thanks to Ebony finally deciding to apply herself on her last test, this is the most accurate scores of the Wammy house," said Roger in the front of the class. Everyone turned around as I stood up and took a bow "Alright now you guys know the drill take the 250 question test and then I'll be by with the 'Critical Thinking' when you push it to the side. Good luck." I rolled my eyes and blew at the edge of my bang curtain trying to blow the strands of now dry hair from my face.

I watched as he passed out the fifty page test, it was nothing. I could read through the thing in a few minutes, get a feel for the questions and then go back and answer them in about thirty minutes, if I tried to make it look like I wasn't guessing. My head is weird, I might not be consciously thinking about it, but after reading it I'll have all the questions answered and then all I had to do is bubble it. The paper copy no longer needed. I would make quite the final impression, if I took this seriously. Let's be honest here, the only place "Ebony" and "serious" were in the same sentence is if "isn't" is in-between them . I read the first question and smiled, remembering exactly which test this was, the first one I ever took here.

I ran a hand through my hair rested it on my forehead as I flipped through the book, it was an exhausting test, I was going to fall asleep, I knew it. Why was I cursed with this awesome memory? I couldn't stay focused if my life depended on it, alright maybe I could but it had to be a legit situation. My pencil tapped in a steady rhythm as I put another mango piece in my mouth. The words seemed to be duller than I remembered, this was going to be almost as bad as that time Mello strapped me to a bed and let water drip on my head until I stopped laughing, trying to break my will. He would've done it too if it wasn't for Matt. Chinese Water Torture was more effective than it sounded, trust me.

I made it clear the first day here that I would help any investigation, legit or not, but never would I lead one, nor will I succeed L. It disinterested me simply put. I knew most cases would bring my ever perky personality down. Homicides, Drug Trains, Manslaughter, what have you, it was despicable that people did these things on a regular basis, but at the same time it was the Kira case that interested me at this particular moment. Kira was a killer was he not? I think it was the fact he was less straight forward than most criminals, he doesn't need to be present for the murder, and he only needs the very basic information to kill I wanted to know how this was possible.

I pushed my finished test to the corner of the desk and kicked my chair back on two legs again, watching everyone else, even Near and Mello test. I furrowed my brow, was I really that smart? Near put his pencil down, so I was only thirty seconds faster than one of L's possible successors. Roger came by and handed me the second part of the test, three questions. Letting the chair make a thud as I let it fall back on its four legs, my eyes widened in shock, these questions were about the Kira case. I put my head on my desk in a loud thud. I said I'd take this test seriously, not that I'd be quiet.

Sure they weren't the straight forward "Who do you think is Kira" kind of questions No, these were questions were more like "L used a criminal to lure Kira out. He found the area where the killer is and a piece on how he kills the victims. He still needs other pieces, how would you go about finding them." I rolled my eyes, there was a wrong answer, which I used often, then there was a right answer which was everything else. I twirled my pencil within my hands and started writing. My answer was something along the lines of this; "Well L, seeing how I'm on my way to Japan I might as well let you know how far I am, eh? Now this is going to be hard given the question but, I found after a certain point Kira started killing every hour on the hour, saying he could control the time of death. So far Kira is playing with us, I say we just let him continue this trend until all we need is a murder weapon not trashing any leads that have even a 1% chance of being the right one. Wouldn't want to make a mistake now would we? Also I would like to point out that's not all we should do, let the provoking begin! Make him want to kill people, then when he takes enough bait make a announcement making it seem like we are farther than we are, it'll scare him."

I answered the remaining questions after that similarly. Addressing them to L showed just how far I was in figuring this test out. The 250 questions weren't checked, I was still debating whether or not the paper was used as fire tender. No wonder the fire smelled like desperation and crushed hopes. I put my pencil down again, thirty seconds before Near who turned around and looked at me with a thoughtful expression barely readable on his face. He stood up and left the room, and I tripped over five chairs as I went to follow him.

"Oops," I said followed by an apology as I then took three careful steps out of the cheap chair jungle and out in the halls of the orphanage where I called to Near who stopped walking almost immediately. His grey eyes were unreadable one again, either his feelings were actually void, or he was really, really good at hiding them. I was thinking of the first one, it gives me permission to walk up to him saying "'Ello Mr. Roboto," and to dress him accordingly for Halloween, or a sheep, the sheep costume made him look very cuddly.

My friend turned toward me as he silently lead me to his room, the unspoken word was passed, it was time for chess. The board was already set up when Near opened his door, I took my normal position behind the black pieces. He knew I was going to ask, how sweet. I laid on the floor, looking through the spaces of the pieces from the position of the king. I rolled over on my back as Near took his typical seated position across of me, one knee hugged to his chest the other tucked underneath him, and moved one of his pawns. I pushed myself up on my left elbow and looked around the board, eventually just moving a pawn up one square.

"You completed the test rather quickly," commented Near twirling a piece of hair with his index finger. He moved another pawn forward leaving me to try to decode exactly what he said. He wasn't one to not say what he meant, no that he did overtime. It was finding the emotional ties within the words that was the hard part, maybe that's why he liked these games. It served as a distraction that only a handful of people were able to see through before the thought faded. I moved my knight and shrugged.

"I suppose. I was getting bored around two hundred, so I kinda rushed through before I fell asleep. That would've sent Roger off the edge. I figured if I was going to give him the day to see how smart I actually was I should try and not nap during the test no matter how close to flat lining I am," I replied with a smile watching Near move a bishop. He shrugged, I was being held to a different standard, and I hated it. It was slightly higher than everyone else, even Near. Just because robot voice contacted me, well I still had like 18 hours before I left.

"What about the ratings? It's likely you've actually beaten me," he mumbled almost disappointed. I shook my head and took my move, moving a rook. I pulled myself into a sitting position and hugged my knees to my chest. I closed my eyes and rested my chin on my knees as I sighed. I then opened my eyes and looked at Near, kid could solve a puzzle without flaws, I end up walking away from the thing because I came up with a design for one instead.

"Doesn't change a thing, in the unfortunate event of L dying, I will not become his replacement. Like I said before, I hate the thought of only solving puzzles for the rest of my life." Near nodded, my answer was expected. I did everything I could come up with to be used "against" me when L died if I ever decided to take my rightful place in the ranks. Near captured the first piece, a simple pawn, I looked at the piece that now took its place, not shocked but intrigued as I took the square as my own with a knight.

Mello shook the board as he slammed Near's door open. Some of the pieces were knocked out of place, falling over, and like they had a habit of doing and rolling five feet from their appointed position. It's hard to find good pawns these days. I turned toward him and frowned, "Now there you go, screwing up perfectly good paint again. What's got your panties in a bunch this time?" I asked as Near started setting the pieces back there they belonged, not even acknowledging the fuming blonde.

The blonde walked over and pulled me from the chess board by the collar of my t-shirt, clearly not going to go through with his many death threats. As he dragged me across the floor, the sound of the metal buttons scraping expensive hardwood making my face twitch in annoyance filled the small space. I complained that I was busy, and that if he left a note that I could possibly squeeze him into my oh-so busy schedule. "Shut-up!" he yelled as he lifted me to my feet and slammed me into a wall. I rolled my eyes as I elbowed him in the stomach, enough to give him the hint that I needed space but not to where it hurt him. "Bitch!" he said through clenched teeth.

"Takes one to know one," I replied with a tilt of my head to hopefully portray innocence. Mello didn't buy it, to be expected. He shoved me toward the wall again, my back to it this time, in all honesty I had no clue what I possibly could've done to make him this mad. "Before you attempt to pummel me into oblivion allow me to say two things. One, Near move my rook to C3, the one on your left. Second, what did I do to displease the chocolate gods you humble, level-headed priest?"

"It only takes you fifteen minutes to finish a 250 question test?" I pause and nodded, pointing out that I normally napped during tests. "So? You never study and you do a test like that so easily, I swear if you beat me I will kill you!" I rolled my eyes and hung my head in defeat.

"I started getting bored, so I might've missed a few, but that's only about a 4% chance." I shrugged as I broke his grasp and went back to my game, sitting opposite of Near. He had his left leg pulled to his chest, the other leg stretched out, the knee must be getting stiff. I laid on the floor, my head held up with my left hand, the rest of my 5'4 frame stretched out.

I thought about the test, sure majority of us got all of the questions right, but then how we act is also accounted, how effective we work and what have you they also look into hobbies, Matt was disinterested, but he still played the game well enough to where he still ranked. Mello's determination to beat Near put him as second. The albino's detachment to his emotions put him first. Me, I was lazy and disinterested, like Matt, but I was also a rebel. I liked my rules better, they were always more interesting. With these things considered, why would I even be considered to be L? Sure I was considered intelligent, but as a successor I was not the criteria L had no doubt put forth.

About three hours later Matt walked in, politely knocking on the door as I held up my finger behind me signaling "Give me a minute" I heard him chuckle as I played a bishop, capturing Near's knight. This was our third game I was playing with him in a row. I had convinced him that we should play a few more, mainly because I finally wanted to win a game, I figured if I was leaving I should play to win at least once.

"Checkmate," he mumbled. I looked in awe at the fact that I had opened up the space for his queen to stand right in front of my king. I closed my eyes and nodded as my smile lit up my face. Ebony one, Near, too freaking many to count. Seriously, I lost count after three hundred and I wasn't about to start counting that'd just take forever.

"Good game," I replied shaking his hand as I stood up and turned toward Matt. "You missed it, I won one game." I held out a finger to illustrate this. I picked up my right leg and stretched it out, chess was a serious game, seriously bad for my knees. I repeated the process for my left knee as the gamer looked toward Near and asked for conformation.

"Really?" Near nodded at Matt's question as he started picking up the game putting two pieces to the side on the floor next to him. I tilted my head to the side in thought, the white king, and black queen. I smiled and knelt down and helped him finish putting the game up. Never had I played as the ivory pieces. I was literally the onyx queen, now what Near planned on doing with these pieces was over my head. Near then handed me the king, looking into my eyes, his almost sorrowful. I understood the gesture, a token to remember him by, we all knew I might not be returning. I could die on this case.

"I'll see if we can use webcams to keep in contact alright? And we still have our weekly games don't we?" He nodded and took out a box of dice, starting to stack them on top of one another. I lightly made my way out of the room and smiled evilly as Matt and I went into his room, Call of Duty already loaded.

"Headset M'lady?" asked the gamer handing me a silver headset. He half kneeled as if he was a loyal subject and I was the princess or queen. I took it graciously and laid on my stomach on the pillows he had already on the floor, a bowl of fruit on my side, a bowl of chips on his. This was normally scheduled for weekends, and with both of us not caring where we ranked in the house we didn't worry about when the results are posted. Mello normally was ranting about them for three days on end before he got enough sense to stop moping to start studying again. Then we'd get three days of peace.

"The hell?" we turned as we were setting up the game, Mello came stomping in, giving me the evil eye, this answered one question. I thought I was going to be second, Near still managed to beat me in chess, but then again I got bored half way through the game. "How the hell did you get first." I coughed at my spit as I accidently shot at a person Matt was planning on knifing, right through the head. Well there goes my hiding spot. I pushed my left arm off of the pillow and rolled over on my right side looking at the fuming blonde.

"What? I got first?" I yelled as Near walked in nodding his head confirming what I didn't want to hear, or see for that metter. "I didn't think I was that smart. Sure I'm a freaking genius I'm here aren't I?" I focused back on the game to find the screen asking me where I wanted to respawn. "God dammit!" I yelled frustrated at my predicament, I died. I chose to respawn at one of our captured areas as Mello sat on Matt's bed. I briefly turned my head, this was one of the few moments the four of us together without killing one another. I smiled, as the air of friendship with a side of "how dare you" filled the room. In a way I was glad I was leaving, it's been five minutes and I didn't know how much longer I could stand the Mello death stare.

"Ha! You just got pwned by a girl!" I yelled at the end of the match putting a grape in my mouth. I chewed on it, letting the sweet juices wash over my tongue. I was going to have to be nice here. Well if I was ever going to eat my pride, now was a good time to start. "Sorry for bumping you down to three Mel, I know how much it means to you, I personally don't care where I rank. It's not like I'm actually going to be L anytime soon." I looked up at the blonde through my ebony hair and gave him a small smile. Right, as if that made everything better I should know by now.

"What was that Ebony? I didn't quite hear you," said Mello teasing me. I looked at him after voting on a game of "kill confirmed" on Call of Duty. Deep blue eyes met icy blue eyes, one of us with a flat calm expression, the other with an arrogant one. Did I stutter? Seriously sometimes I just talk and I have no clue what I say. That time however, I was almost positive I spoke crystal clear.

"I said," I began, cupping my mouth with my hands yelling, "that I was sorry for kicking your butt on that test!" Matt and I started laughing as Mello looked at me with a frown. The two of us got our laughter under control, ending with us sitting side by side leaning against each other's shoulders, me using the black and white shirt as a pillow.

"That was a good one Ebony," Matt said holding his hand up for a fist bump, I met it happily, knowing they were numbered. I looked around the room, Mello rolling his eyes, Near playing with dominos, and Matt zoning out on the game as it started. I smiled as I grabbed the controller, picking my pp90 red dot scope, secondary weapon dual scorpions. Yeah, I had a thing for guns that shot bullets really fast, I could miss more and still get a kill.

I wasn't focused, alright less focused than I normally was. I looked at the Pikachu clock and saw that I had ten hours until I had to depart for Japan. I heard a loud gunshot, sure I was dead virtually but I would always come back and kill more people. I tore my gaze from the screen and looked at Mello as he snapped off a piece of chocolate from the bar he had in his hand, and then at the row upon row of white dominos in front of the albino.

"Are you alright?" asked Mello I shrugged the question off as I looked toward the ceiling and smiled knowing how he was probably going to react to my speech. I heard the game pause and felt everything in the room get still, the relaxed air now tense.

"No, I'm going to die a slow and horrible death. Why? Simple Mells, you're going to go through with your threats and I've just figured this out. Seriously though, I am thinking about how times like this aren't going to happen for a while. I-I guess I'm trying to say that I'mma miss you-all of you." I jumped as I was pulled into a hug. I waited a moment and by the person's personal scent, it was Matt. I smiled and hugged him back. He stiffened for a moment, but relaxed soon after. Even though I wouldn't admit it, I was going to miss this goofball the most.

Matt and I had always been close, and even though there was an unspoken rule about physical contact in the Wammy house Matt and I did hug every now and again. This was the first time he stiffened up at my return. "Are you alright?" I whispered in his ear not knowing if this should be a concern of mine or not. He squeezed me before breaking the hug and responding.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he whispered back pushing me away, holding me gently by my shoulders. I tried to see through his goggles, there wasn't much to be seen through the yellow tint. He used this perk, or disadvantage, to my demise. I liked reading people's eyes and assess their emotions, so I knew how crazy I was allowed to act and it still be tolerated. I gave him a small sad smile as I turned toward Mello and Near.

"Time for a group hug!" I announced throwing my right arm off of Matt's shoulder and let it shoot up in the air. Near looked at me and sighed before standing up and gingerly walked over to join the hug, leaving Mello to be sitting alone on Matt's bed looking at us like we were a mixture of crazy and insanely corny. "Come-on Mello, I said it was going to happen, now unless you want to be forced come here." The blonde looked at the semi circle of Near, me, and Matt and sighed as I pushed the last of his chocolate in his mouth before standing up and him too joining the hug. His mouth looking more like a square from the chocolate, I didn't comment I was looking for a sentimental moment to remember as I fall to the ground, should I die on this case.

"Thank you for being my friend Ebony," I heard Near mumble. I responded in the same manner as Mello sounded like he was about to puke, the sounds were fake, never knew Mello would hate love. I kicked his shin lightly signaling him to shut-up. He scoffed, but he complied, Ebony 3-ish, Mello 0. I broke up the hug as the air became too warm to breath. Matt tapped me on the shoulder and held a pair of goggles on his finger out toward me, one that matched his own. I looked at them curiously but took them, inspecting the straps, my name on the left side, his on the right,

"Just to ya know remind you that you have family here," he said scratching the back of his head, his cheeks colored pink. He was avoiding my gaze, again preventing me from reading his eyes. I smiled as Mello tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a black chain, a silver M charm in the center. I shook my head, a white king, goggles, and a necklace and all they would have is my memory. That doesn't help my self-esteem, making me feel like an inconsiderate jerk.

"You guys didn't have to do this," I said as I found a hole drilled into the side of the king. I unclasped the chain, putting the wooden game piece on it as I put the necklace around my neck and then putting the goggles on after that. The chain went to the middle of my chest, the goggles decorating the collar of my t-shirt.

"It was Mello's suggestion," said Near twirling his hair as he placed another domino down. I was starting to wonder what he was making this time. Normally he'd knock the first domino over by now, but between the clutter of Matt's room the white blocks were consuming the floor. "Shouldn't you be packing Ebony?" I shook my head as I eased my way back into the blanket of pillows on the floor. I did it last night so I could spend my last moments with them; I also said that I was leaving at six in the morning for the airport. I was someone who had to set an alarm an hour before I was supposed to wake up so I could get out of my closet room on time.

"Thanks Mello," I said finishing off my bowl of grapes. The blonde looked at me, his blue eyes burrowing into mine. He scoffed and said it was nothing, crossing his arms and forcing a scowl on his face. "That may be so, but you proved one thing you care." I laid back on my hands, Matt looking at them briefly before putting his over one of mine. My heart leaped at my cheeks started to tingle and then got really warm. I leaned my head back and looked at him questioningly, hoping he couldn't see my blush, which was hopeless from the bright light coming from the ceiling fan in the center of the ceiling.

"Just tell her dude, the worst she can do is tell you that she only sees you as a brother," said Mello getting out another chocolate bar. I lifted my head and looked at the smug blonde, he knew something. I had to give him a point, my flawless record, ruined.

I felt my brow furrow in confusion. I found myself sociable, more so than anyone here, but I was still lost in the conversation between Mello and Matt. That was something I could never figure out, why in the world they were friends. I assumed that it was the same reason Mello and I were friends, I was persistent in the friendship. I turned to the side so I could keep half an eye on Mello and also so I could look at the rose colored Matt right-side up as he looked into my eyes, as if debating whether or not to do something.

I felt my eyes widen slightly as he cupped my cheek and gently put his lips on mine. I jumped slightly. I hugged him back, and put my free hand on his shoulder pulling him slightly closer as he started kissing me, not sitting there as if he was numb. I kissed him back, my body feeling warm. "I've been wanting to do that for a while," he whispered pressing his forehead against mine. I smiled as there was a knock at the door. Matt and I separated as Mello answered the door, a proud smile on his face. Yup, he knew I hated this. If this is how he felt, no wonder he wanted to kill me.

Mello stiffened as he stood back, I walked up to the door, Matt close behind. Near simply turned his head and looked at the man's Italian leather shoes. Watari stood there, a frown on his face. Alright bringer of bad news, lay it on me. "Miss Ebony I've just spoken to L, and there has been a change in plans. We're leaving for Japan in a few minutes. You're luggage has already been packed I'll leave you to give your farewells," he said looking down at me with his hands behind his back. Yup, that's bad news if I've ever heard it.

He walked off, his shoes clicking in a very steady pattern making my stomach drop in sadness. I turned around and Matt pulled me into another hug, and then Mello joined in, me sandwiched between the two of them. I felt Near grab my hand in reassurance.

"This is the hardest word to say you guys," I whispered knowing if I used my voice it'd crack and then when we weren't in the middle of a sentimental moment Mello would pester me until I managed to find his ultimate weakness.

"Then don't say it, it's understood," said Near as if that was a simple answer. I instead closed my eyes and buried my face into Matt's shoulder. I felt his grip tighten as I said the one word that I never liked to say unless it meant I was going two doors down.

* * *

**I didn't want to end it on a sad note, but it seemed fitting. Fun fact: I've changed the name of this chapter more than I've changed the name of the story, and I don't remember any of the changes nor the original. I have a challenge for you though! I'm only looking for her real first name, but if someone can guess it I'll….do something I really don't know yet but I have a feeling it'll take a while, yes it's eventually revealed, but not until the end.**

**Thanks for everyone who has favorited the story. Now, responses to the reviews, ready Ebony? **

_**Ebony: **__Yup!_

**To: Kashagal and Natures Ruler: **

_**Pie: **__:D_

_**Ebony: **__ *pulls lips back and sticks tongue out crossing her eyes as well*_

_**Pie: **__Eb, you're face is going to get stuck if you keep doing that._

_**Mello: **__Let her._

_**Pie:**__ Aww come-on Mello you were just so sweet five minutes ago. Are you still mad at her about the chocolate incident?_

_**Matt: **__Do you even have to ask? That kid needs his own chocolate factory. _

_**Pie: **__…..Point Taken_

_**To: Hello-Totoro-Ninja: **_

_**Pie: **__Yay two cookies! Now there's one for you Ebony! (And to those who went and read the review to know what I'm talking about. No, I'm not quitting this story)_

_**Ebony: **__Huh? GIMME COOKIE! *guards like mamma bear*_

_**Pie: **__I thought your obsession was fruit._

_**Matt: **__Is it sad you have to ask, this is __**your**__ character Pie._

_**Pie: **__….So? Your point? _

_**Mello: **__Great! We have a moron dictating our lives!_

_**Pie: **__It's best not to insult me Mello, my pen is much more deadlier than a Death Note, I have no limitations. _

_**Mello:**__ Dammit!_

_**To Chocoholics Unite:**_

_**Pie:**__ Yay popcorn now I can watch the two of them go at it. Want some? *offers to Matt and Chocoholics and everyone else in attendance* _

_**Ebony:**__ Really? Really? Pie I am your creation! And the fact you are my creator, and that you only have a handful of creations at the moment, you have to make sure that I, oh I don't know, DON'T DIE!_

_**Pie: **__That's not in my contract._

_**Matt: **__She had you sign a contract? Huh, didn't think she'd do that. The most I've seen her write is a list of materials she needs me to buy on the internet so she can cover someone in paint._

_**Ebony: **__*beams with pride* Matt's right though, I didn't __**write**__ a contract, I typed it up :3_

_**Pie: **__And nowhere did it say I was obliged to keep you alive in these "author's notes." Well this is more like "Author's notes with side comments in her head that somehow gets typed up" ANYWAYS back to the comment Let's try to focus people!_

_**Mello: **__You were the moron who got distracted in the first place. Why the hell should we listen to you?_

_**Matt: **__Mello shut up. I'm trying to keep you alive here._

_**Pie:**__ Matt, so far you're my favorite. Look at what you made me do Mello -.- _

_ I like you're idea, it goes to W.C Fields "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit" _

_**Ebony: **__That's my favorite quote! _

_**Pie: **__….I know I kinda created you. You're welcome for the chocolate._

_**Mello: **__Hey you have no right for saying that! It was __**my**__ chocolate that hidden under __**my **__bed in __**my **__room. If anyone deserves to say "you're welcome" it's me!_

_**Ebony: **__Then say it Princess Blondie -.- _

_**Mello: **__…..*mumbles*_

_**Ebony: **__Huh? What was that? *cups hand over ear as if it gives her super hearing* _

_**Mello: **__I said you're welcome, happy?_

_**Ebony: **__Yes._

_**Pie: **__Well that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed after show antics, and even Matt joined in the fun! Let me know what you think and suggestions are welcome. _


	4. Chapter 4 Hi L I Mean Ryuzaki

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, Ebony does however belong to me.  
**

**Chapter Four Hi L- I mean Ryuzaki**

I was laying on two seats that were next together in first class, my head was hanging off of the end, my hair brushing on the filthy floor. This is why I am in debt to the mastermind behind running water, and the shower. My hands were on my stomach as the seatbelt was starting to pinch and cut into my abdomen from my unorthodox position on the seat. There was about five minutes until take-off and I was already bored. Apples weren't working their magic, and I've already thought through all of my information on the Kira case. I knew if I asked for another apple or anything else, the irritable flight attendant would probably snap. The evidence lay within the fact that she had that look in her eye. The one that said "I really don't want to be here right now," but contradictory to this statement, she was here. If she hated her job so much there is this thing called quitting, it works wonders, just make sure you have another job lined up. She could also get fired and collect unemployment, just saying.

"Excuse me but may I have five bananas, four more apples, 3 bunches of grapes, and if you have them 2 oranges?" I asked a more polite flight attendant. She was a petite woman, one who would be better suited at a day care rather than a commercial jet flying everyday to some unknown land. The woman looked at me like I was crazy, but when a look at the founder of the orphanage I had just left resulted in a simple reassuring nod she went to retrieve my list of refreshments. I really didn't understand why everyone was astounded at the volume of food I was asking for, it was fruit. I'd understand if it was something harmful like a case of soda, but fruit was healthy. Maybe not in my portions, but it was still healthy at some point right? I filled the "apple a day" quota for myself and five other people for Pete's sake!

"Miss Ebony, L has instructed me to show you a few things. They are hidden within the pages of your notebook. Please, say whatever you think about them," his gentle voice and it caused me to lift my head and look into his eyes as my black spiral was handed to me. I sat up, and opened the notebook, a pen was wedged in the metal rings that bound the paper together. Distractions were ever present on the plane, I turned toward the warmth on my face as the plane started taking off jerking to life as I drove down the runway.

"Alright, I'll start after we take off, I'll have about twelve hours to think about it," I mumbled as the fruit was delivered. I smiled and inspected each piece, making sure it was bruise free and ripened to my nonspecific liking. I crossed my legs and put the spiral on my legs, slowly flipping through the pages, checking to make sure there was nothing written down that I didn't. My handwriting wasn't uniform, it looked like two chickens stepped into some paint and then decided to try to tango and waltz at the same time. To be honest I was surprised anyone but me could read it without an interpreter. L's from what I've seen was very neat and controlled, the total opposite of mine, so if he had written in this notebook, which he had, I would see it clear as day.

I didn't react as the not-so-pleasant flight attendant took her position in the middle of the cabin, instructing us the proper use of the ever complicated seatbelt and what to do if the door gets ripped off. If that were to happen, nobody would follow procedure, "Fight and Flight" would take over and all rational thought would be following that door that just flew off. The human mind may be complicated, but it's not so complicated that the expectation of calm in the midst of panic would become reality.

I turned back to the Tailor story and read it over, holding the pen within my teeth as I wanted to lay up-side down again. Three pictures fell from the pages, face down into my lap. So they were the super secret thing I was supposed to read over and see what I thought about it. It was another test, but how was this being monitored? L, from what I've seen likes to see things for himself, so how in the name of chocolate and all the fruit on the earth is he seeing, or hearing it? I turned toward Watari, of course. I shook my head and refocused on the Tailor case.

Kira must've panicked, this action by L was unplanned, he should've waited. I skimmed through the story, L did add to it, that afterwards the killings were then centered on the area the broadcast was shown first. So, that meant that Kira's killings weren't focused, or weren't meant to look as if they were. This could be because he was looking for a way to distract the world from the fact his first killing, or the one I thought was his first killing was in Japan. I flipped to the first couple of pages of my investigation, skimming through the names. I looked at the table in front of me and smiled as Watari put highlighters on the table between us. Yup, the old man was covered in bugs.

"Thank you," I said with a smile as I picked them up, looking outside as the England landscape became toy-sized. I turned back to my notes and went through the names, foreigners were in green, the natives in retrospect to Japan were yellow. I started eating the grapes as I assessed the page, it was mostly yellow, Kira's killings were centered in Japan the entire time, but he did kill a great number of ethnicities, not just focusing on the horrors of Japanese crimes. Enough to where if I wasn't mega-mind I wouldn't think anything of it. I bit the inside of my cheek as I flipped back to the Tailor case, if I had seen the broadcast this would be slightly easier, I'd have some in-flight entertainment that way.

If Kira had waited until the next week or so to try to kill Tailor, it would've been pointless, he would've already been dead but we wouldn't have known, or in L's case confirmed his hunch, that Kira only requires a face and a name to kill, this made him more dangerous. Sure Ebony was an alias, totally unrelated in every way shape and form to my real name possible. However, Matt, Mello and Near, could tell you if anyone found out _how_ I came to call myself Ebony, then finding my real name would be a piece of cake. I wrote this inner monologue down so that I wouldn't forget it, just the part about Kira being dangerous, not the part about my name. I then sat sideways in the chairs and put the pictures on the table side by side.

I smiled and grabbed a banana upon eating the last grape. I kicked my feet out gently from the seat and read the letters, all three suicide notes. These letters were nothing special, they all showed fear in Kira and his power, and that they would like L to catch them, but something seemed off about them. I tucked one of the highlighters behind my ear as I set the spiral to the side, closing it. I turned back to the letters reread them again, this time noticing a message, "L did you know, gods of death loved apples?" I felt my eyes widen slightly as I turned to Watari, his eyes looked guarded. He was hiding something, these weren't it. Sneaky, I was starting to have some respect for L.

"Watari, may I please have the other picture?" I mumbled pointing toward his right breast pocket, where I assumed it was. He had adjusted that side of his jacket three times as I looked at the pictures. I looked up at the older man through my bangs, his eyes portraying slight astonishment. Honestly, I didn't understand where that was coming from, then again I have managed to hide my true intelligence for years. Watari handed me the other picture, "have red hands," was written on that one. I frowned, sure there was something else off. I may be thinking too much on this, but nothing would get done unless everything was questioned. So, why was the sky blue? Why did Kira stick to just criminals? Will I die on this case? What does red hands and apples have to do with this case? I think that covers most of my questions. I laid upside down and held the pictures like I would a hand of cards the one saying "have red hands" on top.

"Miss Ebony, if I may, why do you enjoy positioning yourself upside down?" asked Watari looking up from the newspaper he was reading. I thought about this, nobody ever really asked, it was accepted as my thing. I rearranged the pictures and made a coherent sentence, "L did you know, gods of death who love apples have red hands." This was more comical than the first three pictures. No, this wasn't right, I mean I put the pictures together right, but the last note, it didn't set right for me, like I accidentally ate day-old apples. Let me tell you, not a good idea stomach was upset all day long, and I got no sympathy, well if you count Matt not laughing, I guess that counted as sympathy.

"I like atypical things, and I get bored easily, this just gives me a different angle to see everything in. The extra blood to the head does stimulate more thought, if only slightly. Watari, you can call me Ebony, the 'Miss' in front of my name makes me feel too important. I'm only a teenager," I said taking a bite out of the fruit in my hand and repeated the message from the suicide notes, trying to interpret what Kira meant to tell L. I set the pictures on the table, and focused on the fourth note, it was a fake. L probably made it to throw me off, the fact that I had to ask for it also was a part, to see if I could pick up on subtle clues. I turned that picture upside down, L was watching. I couldn't see the camera, but I was sure there was a camera.

I was left with "L did you know, Gods of Death love apples?" Obviously he was being teased L was, but there was something else there I was sure of it. Whether the underlining message I was looking for was purposely put there, or I was just trying to put meaning to these worthless images I wasn't sure. Either Kira considered himself a god of death, and he was letting us know trivia about himself, or gods of death did exist and he was telling us this to throw us off not expecting us to interpret it as an alliance between man and gods that involved killing people. I laughed at myself, shifting my position to where I was laying on the seat side-ways. I picked up the three pictures I was sure were real suicide notes from Kira. Why send these?

Obviously the first seemed more likely to me, psychotic killers often had crazy views about themselves. I didn't expect anything different, this also went with what Near said about him wanting a utopia which helped explain why he was exclusively killing criminals. I grabbed an apple. Kira wasn't stupid though, carelessly giving us this information wasn't like him. There was also the question on where these pictures came from. They were suicide notes, but how did Kira get these notes written, unless he is able to control people before they died, so then these guys were inmates, all accept the last picture.

"Watari, L," I said quietly, looking up at the ceiling as I cross my legs and putting my hands behind my head. "There is a message for the latter of you two. Did you know that Gods of Death love apples? I certainly didn't. The other letter is a fake, and Kira is either just messing with you or gods of death actually exist. Believe what you will." Watari smiled as he reached into his coat pocket and handed me an ear piece. I reached over the table and fell over as I grabbed onto the plastic piece. "Ouch, I'm good!" I called as I sat up to hold onto the wall as the plane hit some turbulence, it was like a deadly rollercoaster, I sure hate to be the guy in the bathroom.

I put the earpiece in as I pulled myself onto my row of chairs. It was cold, like a cool breeze was rolling through and your earbud fell out of your ear and then putting it back in your ear and it feels like it's been in a refrigerator. So cold it tickles your brain a little. Yup that's how it felt, my brain needed a little tickling.

"That's impressive Ebony, I expected you to pick up on Watari's clues on the fourth picture. However you found out that it was a fake, taking it a step further. You're correct that was a fake, and I see you've also come to some of the same conclusions as I have on other subjects of Kira. Welcome to the team." I sat there, letting a sarcastic unamused smile spread across my face, really that's all he had to say? I wouldn't have minded so much if the guy hadn't used robot voice I mean I'm on my way to meet him in person, or so I'm assuming.

"I was also right on this being a test," I muttered to myself. I looked outside and licked the excess apple juices from my chin. An obvious conclusion was made, Kira was a murderer, and murder cases were handled by the police. "Watari, we'll be working with the Japanese police, right?" I asked quietly thinking about the slightly narrowed field of suspects. My earlier theory of Kira being the eight from the first killing has long since been forgotten, I needed to reassess my suspects. So that left what, the male Japanese population?

"We are, more specifically you and L will, I'll make sure you two have everything you need, I see you like fruit." I smiled and started peeling an orange. I explained how the fruit help keep my focus, and as I've repeatedly demonstrated, I can't really focus for long periods of time. Watari nodded, agreeing with me as I lived up to my reputation. I let my thoughts wonder, a dangerous thing if you were me. I was already coming up with new office based pranks. Even though it seems trivial, fishing line is the best pranking tool ever! It's almost invisible to the naked eye. Though I was going to have to be ninja-like in obtaining the holy grail of my pranks, chances of L letting me have it was slim to none.

"It looks so cool outside," I said happily as I sat on my knees and looked over the green ground that looked like plastic rather than living plant material. "I wonder what's it like to skydive, that's something I'll do when this is all over!" I fell back, the bowl I was putting all the discarded peels in falling onto my face and hair. I laughed as I slowly sat up and picked up the peels of two bananas and an orange, as well as the core from my apple and what was left of the grapes.

"_We will be arriving to the Tokyo Airport shortly, please remain seated until the plane has made a complete stop,"_ called the Capitan from the intercom as I peeled my third banana and ate it in a matter of minutes, easily finishing the rest of the fruit. Twelve hours gone like a blink of an eye. Who knew time flew by when you actually use the grey matter in-between your eyes? Anyone? No? Only me, dang.

"Ebony," said Watari drawing my attention. I turned toward the older man curiously tilting my head to the side slightly. "L goes by Ryuzaki on this investigation, he requests that you also use this name." I nodded, I then decided to add onto my alias, a last name, my gamer tag Kage. I fastened the seatbelt as the plane started making its decent. I just randomly told Watari about living in the orphanage, by his request, as the plane landed.

"I normally hung out with Matt Mello, and Near, not at the same time. Mello and I have one of the more unlikely friendships, I'd make him mad just so he can get his daily exercise in. Gotta keep the chocoholic in shape somehow. Do you think Ryuzaki will have any protests with webchat with Matt, Mello, and Near as well as continue my weekly gaming schedule?"

"You'd have to ask him that yourself," I nodded as the plane jerked at the landing. I picked up the notebook and made sure I had put the pen back where it was, in the metal spiral. There was a slight jerk as the plane stopped. I stood up on wobbly, stiff legs and waddled like a duck behind the substitute "mamma duck" as we left the airport and gathered my luggage. I looked around me, signs written in Japanese translated easily in my head, reading a Japanese to English dictionary whilst having a photographic memory really had its perks.

I lightly held onto the necklace Mello gave me, the one with the chess piece on it smiling as it laid in the middle of my chest. Matt's goggles also hand around my neck, hanging around the collar of the dark blue button down shirt I was wearing. I followed Watari to a black old English style car. I opened the trunk and watched as the older man threw my suitcase in and after closing it, went to sit in the back seat.

I watched as Watari took a seat in the front and started driving. I've been in cities before, but every time I do go, I always bask in the tall buildings. I knew how they were built, but they distracted me. The idea of standing on the roof, or in one of the top floors and looking down on everyone, how buildings were also used for suicides didn't help my curiosity. "Watari, why is L –I mean Ryuzaki – staying in a hotel?" I asked in fluent Japanese as we turned toward the metal jungle, hotels dotted the roads every couple of streets. I knew the police department was in the opposite direction, in the heart of the city. It was only reasonable that I come to this conclusion.

In a way staying in a hotel was smart, using an alias would be easy, but at the same time, unless using cash it'll be easily to track who L is, unless the two of them had multiple credit cards. Then it'd be like finding a needle in a haystack and by then L would know who is looking for him anyways, or I assumed.

"Ryuzaki finds moving from hotel to hotel beneficial in keeping the investigation secretive," I nodded as he turned down another street, stopping in front of a hotel. I looked up at the thirty story building and stepped out of the car. I went to get my luggage, but the kind old man said that he'd take care of it, that Ryuzaki would most likely wanted to get started right away. I nodded in agreement and followed him to the twenty-eighth floor.

The hotel was pretty fancy, red carpet lined the hallways. The walls were painted a light grey, more of an off-white, the floor molding was a light yellow, to go with the golden pattern on the carpet. We passed by a vending machine filled virtually everything, but as expected my focus food was alienated and not invited to the packaged party. Watari kept walking while I looked briefly at the machine, I jogged to catch up.

The older man opened the door, allowing me to walk in first as he disappeared into the catacombs of the hotel. The room had a white carpet, and a light cream-yellow wall scheme, light white linen curtains were pulled closed around the windows. To my left was a kitchen and the right, I assumed were the bedrooms. I felt my ear twitch as a slouched man stood looking at me, measuring me up. His eyes were black and had dark circles under them, they were somewhat hidden under his messy black hair. He was wearing a long sleeve white shirt and jeans both were a little too big for him. I smiled and held my hands behind my back, looking at him with my crystal like eyes.

"Hello Ryuzaki," I said innocently rocking back and forth on my heels. His eyes widened as he stuck his thumb nail in his mouth. I will admit that I was looking forward to a man in a suit similar to Watari's probably in his mid-thirties, not in his mid-twenties. However, I wasn't what people expected either. I looked like anyone else I just act like a hoodlum when it fits.

"Good afternoon Ebony. Please come this way, I want to ask you a few questions before the rest of the task force gets here, in case you don't want to revel your identity," he had a emotionless tone to his voice, he was Near's clone, or Near was his clone. Though neither one of them knew each other personally, so these theories were almost unjustifiable. I nodded and followed him into what would be the living area of the hotel room. There were two laptops side by side, in front of two chairs, the couches angled toward each other with a coffee table in the middle, papers thrown on there as if they were being looked at. "Please sit down, the rest of the task force will be here shortly." I watched as L crouched in one of the chairs, he hunched back bent slightly more so than when he was standing. Does he have back problems? Scoliosis?

I tilted my head and sat, sideways, in the chair next to him as he leaned over toward one of the computers as he started typing on it, clearly thinking about something at the same time. He leaned back and turned toward me as a video started on the screen, a man with black hair, sitting behind a desk with a name plate that displayed his name loud and proud, Lind L Tailor. He introduced himself as L. My eyes widened, Kira should've seen through this. L, from both as the stand point as a civilian and a potential successor to the weird looking guy beside me, wouldn't have thought he would've gone and introduce himself this carelessly. The word "evil" was brought up, calling Kira out. He didn't panic did he? No, well maybe, he was probably provoked to the point to where to save his sanity he killed him.

I nearly fell out of my chair, not because L's well L flash on the screen, but because he was flabbergasted. Didn't know I knew that word did ya? That's what I get for reading six dictionaries. The robotic sounding detective was relaying how far he'd gotten, sort of, saying Kira didn't need to be present. His voice elevated from his slow calm-ish start, like he was Hitler giving a speech, no I'm not done with these Hitler references leave me alone! I don't personally like the dictator, but let's face it people if he was working for the greater good he'd be the best leader ever end of story. Anyways, L provoked Kira to kill him, almost yelling into the microphone, and then like a switch went smug and said that he couldn't be killed by Kira.

"So, what are your thoughts other than what you've already said on the video?" I jumped and looked at the detective, as he picked up a plate, a piece of cake resting on it. I studied him as I turned back to the screen and crossed my legs, resting my elbows on my knees.

"Kira didn't panic, sure he was panicking as you were yelling at him asking for death. Nice Hitler like rampage, it fit the moment. Even though the most evil man from the twentieth century is long gone, his influences still are prominent. This isn't what you asked though, you uncovered all of the obvious though, Kira doesn't need to be present so this widens the possibilities on who he is. If anything this proved that Kira is in fact a male. Why'd you show this to me?" I blinked a few times and sat back, starting the painfully slow reply of the video, wishing what he had said had subtitles.

"Watari told me you were interested in his murder so I figured you should see his murder first hand and see if you can add onto your thoughts and conclusions," L said I turned toward him and nodded slowly as a knock was heard at the door. "You are free to keep your task here to yourself, I won't tell them." I nodded as I turned and put my knees on the seat and put my elbows on the back of the chair as the door opened, five men walking in.

"Hi!" I said waving happily dragging the word out. The suited men turned and looked at me questioningly, like I was crazy, or I was out of place, probably both. The youngest of the five smiled widely at me, his eyes were dark but they showed innocent, he was a naïve man. Their gaze shifted to L, an astounded expression taking over their faces.

"I am L," said the detective that was now there with everyone, scratching his foot with his other foot and then his head with is hand, going through the tangle of a jungle in there. Lovely first impression, though considering he uses a computer I guess this is a second impression. Everyone's eyes were filled with shock, and then calmed down, what proof did they have to say that he wasn't?

"Hello! I'm Matsuda," the first cop said in a voice that almost mirrored my own. I stood up on the chair and flipped over it landing lightly and calmly walked over to the detective, holding my hand for him to shake it. I looked into the eyes of everyone else as they pulled out ID's and started saying their names loud and proud, idiots. Matsuda's first name was Touta, his fair was cut around his ears and he showed his youth and his careless nature showed. Soichiro Yagami, an older man with graying hair, his eyes showed that he was old-fashioned, he also was one to protect his family to the death, but he was also very caring and cautious. Shuichi Aizawa with a mini-afro, frown lines on his face, he was more aggressive and hot-headed than the other two, he wasn't like Mello, he wouldn't try to kill anyone, just yell. Kanzo Mogi, the tallest man there was quiet, as well as insanely dedicated, he was seen not heard. Hirokazu Ukita was another man whose hair was cut short, he looked like he was the second most likely to do something foolish, is Matsuda didn't get himself killed, he was.

"My name is Ebony, Ebony Kage, I'm here to help you guys, I think. Ryuzaki might just be taking advantage of my interest in the case and high intelligence level," I said casually as I walked into the kitchen getting a peach from the fridge. I gently caressed the fuzzy fruit as task force let my name and position sink in. I jumped as a "bang," if you wanted to call it that, came from the room.

I then got the best idea, I walked into the room and jumped up behind the five men yelling "Death by heartattack!" jumping up and waving my arms, causing everyone to turn away from L's "hand gun" and turn to me, their hands resting on their beating chests. I bit my tongue to hold in my laughter. This was pointless. I hit the wall behind me as tears of laughter spilled over my eyes. Mumblings from the five of them spread quickly until Aizawa spoke up asking and I quote "What the hell was that?" I bit into my fruit and started clapping slowly. I took a mental picture of their faces, even though it was already trapped into the fly paper that was my mind.

"That's priceless your faces! You'd be dead if we were Kira, though I'm pretty sure he doesn't use a gun. Unless he's using darts with some weird chemical concoction, like some witch recipe," I said getting ready to ramble. "Then again he can control people, maybe he's a hypnotist and hypnotized those criminals, but I have no clue where in Japan they were killed, and I'm only assuming they're in Japan because of the language the letters were written in. You know-"

"Ebony, please control yourself," L said I stopped and shrugged as he turned back to Task Force. "Kira only needs a face and a name to commit murder, but I assume you've already figured that out, haven't you?" Burn, like leaving toast in the toaster for too long, or forgetting your making a grilled cheese and you go back to check on it and all you have is a burnt rock, yeah I'm no five star chef. "Please don't give out your name so carelessly, let's value our lives." He then turned and went back to where we were watching the Tailor murder.

There was a call to leave any and all communication devices on the table, turned off. I shrugged it off and danced into the other room, the police men asking why it was necessary, Aizawa jumping to conclusions as to why. I took my seat and looked at L, curiously taking another bite out of the peach. "Let me start by saying nobody takes notes here in these meetings. That means when we leave here for headquarters, everything is committed to memory," the detective said I smirked, memory eh? I've got that covered. I still had a clarification question, so like a good student I raised my hand. "Yes Ebony?"

"Does that include me opening up a document on the laptop, taking notes and then deleting it so that it is committed to memory? I mean you can ask Roger how I deal with rules, and he'll say that I don't follow them- which isn't true. I just have a habit of finding loopholes out of boredom and pointing them out with a demonstration." This was effective in my opinion, demonstrations are always taken more seriously, people are better visual learners than anything else.

"You'll be here the entire time, I suppose this is acceptable. Now, back to what I was saying, Please make yourselves comfortable." There was some talk on why classifying names of criminals was a bad thing, me agreeing with a nod of the head every couple of seconds, this small chatter really dampening my excitement. All and all it came to a simple statement; Kira was childish and he hated to lose.

"I know this because I am also childish and I hate to lose, that's how I know," the raven haired detective said then going on to explain what happens when a childish killer and a childish detective go head to head. "Kira works alone, he had access to all of our classified information." I was upside down at this point, but I decided now would be a nice time to put in some thoughts, or in this case some "constructive criticism."

"I have a friend that hacked into your systems and was able to stick around to translate some of the documents into English. I don't see why he just didn't ask me to translate, he knew I was curious about this case. Maybe we should beef up our computer security, put bugs in our systems so we can see which computer Kira is getting this information from."

"Interesting, would your friend be able to help us?" I shrugged I wasn't going to promise something from Matt and on then he says no. It wasn't likely, but it was still an option. "He needs a name and a face to kill," L said continuing his thoughts, "and to some extent he can dictate their time of death and actions before dying. We already know that much, please keep that in mind." A marker was pulled out as I tuned out the discussion and went back to the video that was imprinted in my memory. "And listen carefully to what I have to say next," I lifted my eyes, so much for tuning out.

"I hope that marker is washable," I stated pointing at the jet black marker, "I am not paying for a replacement table, I'm broke." Everyone paused as L completely disregarded my outburst and drew on the table, a timeline by the looks of it.

"On December 14th, twelve FBI agents entered Japan," L began. I shifted my position to mirror L's there had to be some detective mojo that went along with sitting that way and I was determined to figure out what that mojo was. It was also easier to see what he was writing, and I had a feeling as time was allowed to flow, I was going to be in charge of old information. "Here we are December 19th. Using prison inmates, Kira experiments by manipulating their actions before they die. In other words in this window of only five days Kira became aware of the FBI's presence and obviously felt threatened."

"He was probably followed and knew he was being followed. I think Kira is trying to remain anonymous while still trying to prove to us that no matter what we do we can't find out who he is. The fact he didn't know the name or face of these agents he probably singled out the agent that was following him and then got him to tell him the names of the other agents with him before killing him. However, he would have to be present during that killing, which is totally not his style." I shook my head as L studied me, trying to figure out where my smarts came from, I mean it's not like I run around with a rainbow banner strapped to my back with my IQ painted on it. Though that would be awesome!

"He also needed to know how much control he had over his victims before he used it for the agents. So on December 27th, well we all know what happened." I felt out of the loop, what happened? I opened my mouth and closed it as I came to my own conclusion, the FBI agents died. L was looking at me but continued on with his explanation.

"During this period, to the best of our knowledge 23 victims died of heart attacks. These were different from Kira's normal targets. These were all alleged criminals, ex-convicts, or suspects in ongoing investigations. Legally speaking they were innocent. He needed these people do die in order to kill those FBI agents, he killed that many so we couldn't pick out the decoys from those he actually used. In truth he only needed a few. He waited 8 days so that the agents could investigate other people and so that there was nothing linking them to him." I tuned out as the time frame was narrowed down even more.

I saw a pile of papers, and as L wrote on the table some more, still not replacing the table, nor am I going to clean it up. I may be a female but I am no house maid, people are lucky I pick up my apple cores, and peach seeds, and grape stems, and orange peels, I think you get the idea. I picked up a good chunk of them and then L picked up the rest, noticing instantly that it was lighter than he expected.

"These files are from the FBI, they contain additional information that you may find useful, for obvious reasons you won't be able to-" I lifted my head as he stopped abruptly, was Kira killing him? Come-on you can't say after hearing him provoke him that I wasn't the least bit suspicious that he was about to die.

"Amazing!" said Matsuda happily picking up a file cutting the detective off. To be honest, I thought the detective was talking a lot. They agreed to split off into teams, one investigating the FBI agents the other team get the heart attacks that didn't follow suit. I knew from the look on L's face I was going to be looking at both. Computer mind activate! I needed a super hero costume.

"So, any questions?" asked L interrupting the master plan, looking around the table and settled his gaze onto me. I looked at him and made my face twist into one that over exaggerated how appalled I was. I put my hand on my chest and dropped my jaw. Me, questions? Where was Matt to raise an eyebrow when I need him to? Or to teach me, that would be slightly more efficient.

"I've managed to hide how smart I really am for four years, give or take one, it took me only one year to go through the rules and find loopholes in all of them, I'm good. I'm actually a lot smarter than I act, and look, but mostly act," I said reading the files in my hand, Raye Penber.

He was going to get married to a Naomi Misora, that name was familiar, though I wasn't positive where from. Now, before you gasp in the horror of my lying to you about how accurate my memory is, let me explain what photogenic exactly means, though I'm sure you readers were just reminded. I'll just keep going on my inner monologue. I heard her name, and I can't remember where from and it was killing me. Was sure that whenever I heard it, I was thinking I should've written it down.

"Actually Ryuzaki, I do have two questions for you, and one pertains to what you said earlier about how you hate to lose. The fact that you've shown us your face, mean that you lost but just being here are you admitting defeat to Kira?" I tilted my head to the side and considered this. L, someone who doesn't show his face had just shown his face to these five plus me. Speaking of me, is my presence here mean a larger defeat as well?

"Well that's right. By showing my face to you now, and by sacrificing the lives of twelve FBI agents, as well as bringing a teenager into this case I have lost the battle. But I'm not going to lose the war. This is the first time I have ever put my life on the line. I want to show Kira we're all willing to risk our lives if that's what it takes." He paused for a literal second and smiled, I almost fell over in shock, Near smiled exactly like how he did, but unlike the albino I had no overwhelming need to pick him up in a breath catching hug. "And that no matter what Justice will prevail."

"Mr. Yagami, I assume your question involves something about me here, no?" I said biting my lip in thought about Naomi Misora. "I was contacted by L, totally my decision on being here. I completely understand the risks, and I'm not going to hide under my bed while missing the opportunity to gather information on something I'm actually interested in. That's like pointing to dog food and tell a dog to not eat it." I kicked my feet out from under me them being stiff and my ankles starting to hurt. Why does L sit like this? This was going to be question for another day.

I looked around the room, there was only seven of us in the room, excluding Watari who was out doing whatever it was that Watari did, but that's six more allies that Kira didn't have. Individually none of us could stand against Kira, does that mean that Kira smarter than us? No, that can't be possible, could it? I was going to have to treat this like that one game I actually won against Near, no hold bard. I stood up and looked outside, Kira look out, you have a fourteen year old after you and nobody knows what she's capable of, not even she knows.

"Ryuzaki, I just remembered I was going to ask if I could maintain contact with my friends via web cam. I'll keep my big mouth shut, all I have to do is distract myself beforehand. Playing some video games might work, it's been a while since I played some World of Warcraft, Whiskers might be getting lonely," I said turning toward the detective, pushing my bangs from my eyes. He nodded his permission. "Oh, and before we go any further I will do anything within reason to find and catch Kira. Kira might possibly believe he's justice, but he's also a hypocrite."

* * *

**Just a head's up, the next chapter I'm going to totally re-write from square one, and I've never done this before and even though it takes me two days to write an entire chapter, it takes about three days to edit it so we're looking at about a week. So, I decided to come out with this chapter a lil early.**

**I'm still looking to see if anyone can guess Ebony's real name, and no I don't know what the prize will be, probably a character later on in the story, I already am planning on putting a friend in it and by his request he dies. Yeah, I have weird friends. **

**Thanks for those who have favorited the story and now review response. **

**To Chocoholics Unite:**

_**Pie: **__I am assuming that means I portrayed their emotions the way I wanted them too. Oh Yeah! *punched air*_

_**Ebony: **__Poor Matt? He's safe- for the time being- I'm the one risking my life and limb. Oh and Mel, your nickname is catching on!_

_**Mello: **__Shut up! I am not a Princess *crosses arms*And I don't even look like Princess Peach!_

_**Ebony:**__ You could've fooled me._

_**Pie: **__Not looking like her eh? I think between Ebony, Matt and I we can arrange a total make-over._

_**Matt:**__ *looks up from PSP* You do know that's a death wish right?_

_**Ebony:**__ But it'll be funny. I'll go get the handcuffs and duck tape!_

_**Pie:**__ I'll go get the costume. Sorry Matt you're going to have to hold her down while Ebony hand cuffs him._

_**Matt:**__ Is it sad that this isn't the weirdest thing Eb has had me do? _

_**Ebony: **__Nope! ^.^ Oh Melloooooo_

_**Mello: **__Get away! AND IM NOT A HER!_

_**Pie: **__Wait…does anyone know how to put make-up on? I barely know how to do decent eye-liner. Ebony?_

_**Ebony: **__Really? You're going to ask me? I don't even wear eye-liner, or straighten my hair. _

_**Matt:**__ I'll find a tutorial online. _

_**Ebony: **__Matt you're the best! *hugs Matt around the neck.*_

_**Matt: **__I know *blushes*_

_**Pie:**__ Well that's all for now, see you whenever I get done with the next chapter O.o _


	5. Chapter 5 Bad Boys Whatcha Gon' Do

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any other copyrighted material used here (which is a lot I had a list XD). The crazy chica Ebony belongs to me.**

**Chapter Five Bad Boy Whatcha Gon' Do? **

"Let's see the following scenes again: Raye Penber passing the ticket gate on his way in, then him boarding the train and then finally him dying on the platform," L ordered quickly taking a bite of his ice cream. I groaned loudly and covered my eyes, the only light being emitted from the small TV screens a mere three feet from us was really giving me a head ache. Well then again hanging upside down probably wasn't helping much either. I stick to where I place my blame, curse you technology!

"This is torture!" I exclaimed throwing my arms up, or down depending on your perspective. I'd seen these videos once and during the replays I had gone and replayed the ones I found either comical or "weird" in my head, totally tuning what was on the screens in front of me out. Granted, Penber's death was in the "weird" category, I was burnt out as I played the video in my head for the fifth time.

I froze and roll over onto my stomach, as the tapes were being found. "Mr. Yagami, you have the lists of what was found on each of the FBI agents right?" I asked turning to look over my shoulder at the older man. In my head, though I've pressed my mental pause button a number of times at this particular moment, I was still curious about an object that seemed to disappear within the hour-and-a-half the agent was on the train. I was also sure that L had picked up on what I had; I was just acting on my own and confirming what I thought.

"Yes, here you go," was my given response as I was handed the list of what was found on Raye Penber. Typical stuff, watch, laptop, wallet, pen yup seen most of those on the video that was in my head. I didn't however see what I was looking for. I shook my head slowly as Matsuda stood up from the desk, a piece of paper in his hand.

"Um, so based on the records I have here," started Matsuda as I played my mind video along with this, finding it appropriate to do so, "Raye Penber enters at the west entrance of Shinjuku at 3:11 PM." That 1500 hours for all you military time fanatics. "Then, at 3:13 he boards a train at the Yamanote line. But even if he was following someone at that time, I think it's going to be extremely difficult for us to try to make any real conclusions from this blurry video. Then at exactly 4:42 PM-oh thanks very much Watari," I looked at the frozen dairy treat just handed to Matsuda longingly, I appeared to be just as tired as everyone here, but well L, however I wasn't that tired. I was just yawning and fighting to keep my eyes open because I was bored, we've been doing this all freaking day, "Uhmm at 4:42 PM he exits the train and dies on the platform."

I handed the piece of paper back to Mr. Yagami and looked at L with a mischievous smile. I clawed at my chest and fell off of the couch, a nice loud thump ringing through the air as Matsuda, Aizawa, and Mr. Yagami looked at me alarmed. Watari smiled from under his moustache. I straightened my back and turned stiffly toward the couch and reached out with my right hand. I then went limp and started laughing. Their faces filled with horror were priceless! They actually thought I was dead, but no I was just doing a cheap impression of Penber's death.

"Ryuzaki, if I may fast forward to him boarding the train at 15:11 and 17 seconds, precisely. I want to confirm the brain copy is right with the tape copy," I said looking at the detective from the floor. He looked at me and nodded. I sat up and brought my thumb nail to my lips, gently biting it. Five, almost six days and I was already picking up and copying his mannerisms, that has to be a record people! I also was having prank withdraws, not one prank has been pulled, yet. Time to bust out the hidden fishing line I had hidden within the confines of my suitcase.

The focus was turned to the first of three small TV screens. The grainy, blurry video showed the American-Japanese man walking through the gates, brief case in one hand, looking around as if he was unsure on where to go. Under his arm there was an envelope, it almost looked empty, but as I zoomed in on the video within my head I could almost swear that the seal had been broken. It was a manila, this much I was positive about. It didn't have an official seal of any kind, there had to be something more to that folder.

"It's strange don't you think?" I looked at the detective as Aizawa asked what he meant. L then looked at me as I pulled myself back onto the couch, laying on it sideways, my back against the arm rest, my feet on the same seat the rest of me was on. I then titled my head trying to remember the exact amount of time that the Yamanote system needs to take a complete circuit.

"The envelope, and the fact he was on a train for an entire hour and a half when the train only needs an hour to complete its circuit. Not to mention at 16:42 26 he looks like he's straining to see something, probably the person who gave him the envelope, which is either a pawn of Kira, or Kira himself. If that's the 'strange' thing you're talking about then yes, yes it is strange. And I came to these conclusions without a single piece of fruit." L's eyes focused on mine as I tried to read them, emotions almost as void as Near's eyes. I knew he was still trying to figure me out, sure I was bored out of my mind but I was sounding serious for once in my life.

"Yes I figured you saw the envelope, it didn't take you any time at all to ask to confirm that you've seen it. Watari told me about your memory, but seeing it for myself I must say that I am impressed, your recollection of these videos is astounding," complimented L taking another bite of his ice cream as I was handed my own ice cream cone. I smiled at I attacked the frozen treat with my tongue, growling at it and fought the urge to pound my chest like Tarzan.

This was only scratching the surface of my album of memories. I was actually waiting for him to give me a piece of paper and saying "Read this" and then wait an out or two before asking me to retype it. I wouldn't put this past the detective, he interviewed Task Force the other day because he wanted to be positive that they weren't Kira. I wasn't interviewed, but I sure had some smart answers I wanted to use.

"He's also not found with said envelope and if I know anything about manila colored envelopes is that they are important or are meant to look important," I added matter of factly, holding my finger up and closing my eyes. Sure this didn't prove my point, especially because I soon after continued attacking my ice scream in an animal-like manner, but it was fun , or at least more fun than just sitting there bored out of my mind.

"She's right, it's there under his arm," said Aizawa leaning forward, his nose almost touching the screen of the small TV. Don't blame me if he needs glasses because of this late night. I took a bite of my ice cream and muttered something along the lines of "I told you so." "But in the footage right before his death, it's gone. I can't believe you actually caught that."

"My mind came with a zoom feature what can I say?" I shrugged and scratched the side of my head. "And according to the list Mr. Yagami has it wasn't found with the corpse, so that leaves one conclusion" I held up a single finger and waved it around. I opened my mouth and took a deep breath, looking around the room and waited for everyone but L to lean forward. I then laughed and pointed to L, telling him to go ahead and explain, seeing how we came to the same conclusions thus far.

"It was left on the train and of you watch closely at the very end here, as Ebony said, it seems like he's straining to look inside the train before the doors close, you can see right here," said L nonchalantly, fast-forwarding the death portion to the exact time I had said earlier. Sure enough we were right, Penber's back was arched as his twitching dying body was angled in a way that makes it appear like whatever was in the train was upmost importance for him to see. However, if you played the footage a couple of more seconds his body stops twitching followed by him going completely limp, dead a mere second later. He saw what he wanted to see, the question is what did he see and was it Kira?

"If that's the case do you think that could mean something?" asked the older man behind the couch. I laid my arms over the armrest to my right and then laid my right cheek on my arms, closing my eyes as I curled my legs under my body on the single cushion. Boredom is back, and the questions these people are asking are wasting time in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I'm trying to catch Kira, this is the most effort I've ever put into something, and it's only been a week.

"It means Kira," I cried out rolling over onto my back looking at the ceiling forcing myself to stay awake. I yawned again stretching my arms out. Sleep was a good way to ward off boredom, assuming one's dreams don't include a bad memory of one's life or whatever monsters my head decides to make up. I looked at the watch I had brought with me, it was about six back in England.

"Wouldn't it be interesting if Kira was on that train?" asked L rhetorically, not responding to me in the slightest as I made a sarcastic comment in return. "I admit I find it hard to believe as well. There's no reason for Kira to come to the scene of his own crime knowing he can kill from a distance. Well, maybe he was counting on us making that assumption, and figured he could get away with such a bold move."

"And now we're back to freaking square one, playing into Kira's trap. He's going to end up, if he hasn't already, counting on L to follow his moves footstep for footstep. Now, four years of glazed over, barely paid any attention to detective training says we should look into the people Penber was tracking, set up cameras, bugs, the whole ten yards," I said stretching and sitting up, rubbing my eye. "Now, I'm going to help my friends in a Raid Dungeon if you don't mind."

"Remember not to tell them anything," called L his eyes not leaving the screen I paused and scoffed responding that the only thing worth telling them was just who the famous L was, and let me tell you it wasn't much. "That's exactly what I meant." I gave him a small smile and shook my head, if only he knew how everyone, besides me, worshiped the laptop he had just connected to. I was going to have to show him how people react to him someday.

I opened the lid of my laptop, turning it on and went into the kitchen to get some grapes for my gaming get together. To be honest, L was a harder nut to crack then Near was. The only person I became friends with overnight was Matt, and that's mainly due to the fact I absolutely love the Final Fantasy franchise, when the company was Square SOFT, not Enix. Square Enix sucks, the games have never been as good as Final Fantasy 9, that's just my opinion and if you don't agree with it, you're wrong. Just kidding, I will strongly disagree with you, but I'll accept it, barely.

Near took patience, and let's face it I wasn't the best person to look at if this is a virtue you wanted to expose. I was rash, the total opposite of Near he always was calculating, you could see it in his eyes. Rash, loud, annoying, but at the same time brilliant, that's how Matt would describe me, I asked him once. Breaking through his shell was one of my greatest achievements of my life.

"_Are you sure you don't get lonely? I mean I'd get lonely without any friends," I had said while sitting across of the plastic railroad from the albino for the fifth week straight. The plastic scale conductor was "choo-chooing" and puffing up steam from the weird tower thing I've never taken the time to learn what the proper name is. My knees were pulled to my chest and I was hugging my ankles as I watched Near stare at a spot on the floor as the train went around the track._

"_I'm fine, I appreciate your concern Ebony," Near said as the train passed in front of him. I had been there for an hour trying everything I could think of to get the kid to talk, and I got one sentence each time that left no wiggle room for me to expand on the conversation. I then tried to change it to something I knew would get the kid to talk, again nothing. Normally I'd give up, go get a soda and shake it up letting it spray in his face, but that's ruin his whiteness. No, I was trying to be nice, and for once there was a method to my madness. _

"_There is a hmm, 65% chance you know that I'm not going to be leaving you alone anytime soon," I stated as I laid on the floor and rested my left calf on my right knee. I turned my head to see Near twirling his hair on his index finger, still not looking up at me. _

"_So I take it you're not leaving are you?" I shook my head happily confirming one of his fears. "Why are you so determined to befriend me?" I rolled over and watched the train pass around the circuit again. I should answer him, I owed him that much. I mean I was pestering the kid. The train passed again, as I waited a little longer. Near's head slightly tilted up toward me. I gave him a small smile and met his gaze by looking through my hair._

"_Everyone needs a friend. I locked out my emotions after my parents died, didn't talk to anyone for an entire year. It's coming out of your shell for the first time that's the hardest, and if you're going to succeed L, don't you think you need to work on communication?" I raised both of my eyebrows, smirking at the fact I had said something I figured wouldn't be too transparent. I knew he'd see through it though. He was first for a reason and I wanted to see just how quickly he'd catch on. His gazed became refocused onto the run we were both sitting on._

"_Communication is easy, it's socializing that isn't my strong point. If I understand L correctly, all he does is relay deductions and the proof to go along with them." See? Dead conversation there, I mean what do you say to that? Err, let me rephrase that how do you respond to that and gain a friend in the process? You can't, so I just sat there for a moment, trying to figure out a way to show him that I wasn't giving up anytime soon._

"_Yeah, you're right but L has Watari, and let's face it he's not going to be around forever. Who is going to be your handler if you bottle yourself in your little turtle shell all of the time?" Near paused and looked up from the rug on the floor and looked at me. His head moving dramatically, not a slight movement nobody but me could see. He was looking at me straight on._

_He was in deeper thought than I've seen him in ever, thoughts almost seen flowing through his eyes at the speed of light. He was studying me, at this point I was smiling on the inside as I nonchalantly picked up a Rubik's cube and looked over the small squares. I looked at him, silently asking for permission to mix up the cube, and he just sat there. I shrugged and started mixing the cube up, randomly moving the squares around and around so that in the end, they were in a pattern all around the cube. I set the cube in the middle of the circle track happy with what I had done._

"_I'm going to go prank Roger's office, maybe tomorrow we can play chess or something. I've never lost and I know that with my short attention span and low effort level will be my demise. I think it's about time I lost. I'll see you tomorrow Near!" I danced out of the room leaving the cube in the room. _

_I returned the next day to see a chess table set up and ready to play._

"Alright, Kage's here now it's a party!" exclaimed Matt over Vent and into my ear consequently. The cloth pads over the silver head set were still cool on my head. I shook my head and saw the invite to join the "raid" that Matt, Mello, and I were a part of on the ever-so popular MMORPG World of Worldcraft. I smiled at the excitement in his voice, and the fact my best friend in the whole wide world , the chocoholic, was on.

Now for my non-gaming friends let's breakdown the nerdtopia of WoW and all of its glory, and yes I just called myself a nerd. MMORPG simply means **M**ass **M**ultiplayer **O**nline **R**ole **P**laying **G**ame, meaning everyone and their mom, dead or otherwise, can play. Basically you and your friends, or dead mom take your pick, and then the two or so of you go around and reap virtual havoc. I mean let's face it, if you run into town with a bow in hand and try to kill everyone, you're going to jail. In WoW you just get murdered. Then you have to go find a Spirit Healer, but you get to come back to life.

"It's never a party until Kage is present, I mean you can't spell 'party' without an….err…well 'a,'" I said in English losing my mojo for a brief moment. As I used my map to find him and Blondie, oops I mean _Mister_ Blondie. "Hey where are you?" We had the "Burning Crusade" expansion, meaning we had more races, Blood Elf and Draenei, than what came with the base game (Orc Undead, Troll, and the weird warthog thing for the Horde. Human, Dwarf, Gnome, and the Night Elf for the Alliance), and new maps to party in.

"We're tearing out the Outlands, Zangarmarsh," spat Mello or as his gamer tag says Kuja. Yeah, it was me who gave him the name and he liked it. Little did he know that he was named after a "dude looks like a lady" character villain from Final Fantasy 9. I thought it suited him, and he was level thirty when I told him and he still hasn't made a new character at level 76. That's yet another victory for Ebony, and a bold statement on Mello's part.

"Thanks Kuja," I responded with a smile now wishing I had named my hunter Garnet and then have Matt make his paladin Zidane. Maybe even switching classes, me be a Priest and Matt be a Rouge. Now that would be an epic party, just saying. I teleported to the familiar lands and used my map again to find my "raid" members.

Now those of you who are familiar with the game are probably thinking "where are the other two party members?" As stated in the WoW tutorials a Raid is a party of five to forty people, any less and you and your cohorts are known as a party. Now, I'm using the term "raid" because Matt is famous for hacking into Blizzard's servers and tweaking the rules to where Mel, he and I can go into the Raid Dungeons which are otherwise restricted. It's a party, literally.

"Are we going Raiding or are we just going to kill monsters and talk?" I asked dismissively as I leaned back and let my Nightsaber, basically a purple saber toothed tiger, named Mr. Whiskers. Alright I might've had one too many apples that night, and now I'm too lazy to change it. It's caught on and I can't stop the revolution now can I? Well, I can but I've grown attached to Mr. Whiskers and if I change it I would feel as if the game lover portion of my heart would've been ripped out.

"I'm alright with a casual game. What about you Kuja?" asked Matt as I watched his human paladin cast two or three party buffs and easily cut down an enemy or two that he had apparently caused aggro, making the enemies pay attention to him. I took out my bow and helped him out, letting my cute pet go forth and cause much bloodshed, not really, no blood is spilled.

"I have a few questions for Kage, but I'm guessing somebody has her under an oath of secrecy," grumbled the blonde on the other end of the Vent conversation. I confirmed his suspicions and laid a couple of traps randomly throughout the map. My little gnome hunter with green hair was shorter than the blue grass of the map, and yes I was small enough to where I could ride my own pet if the game allowed.

"To be fair though, we haven't exactly made any head way. I might be here for a while, that's no fun. I had an entire notebook full of pranks I wanted to pull on Roger. Ya know, if L gets a successor, I deserve one too." I leaned back and reaching out and tried to reach the laptop. "Too…..far!"

"Have you tried moving it?" asked Matt with a sigh. I paused and moved the laptop to my lap, thanking Matt for his genius solution to my problem. "No, you're problem is laziness, and I suffer from it too Kage, you're just more vocal about it." I didn't comment, Mello beat me to it with his questions.

"Now who in their right mind would succeed you Ebo-Kage," said Mello a small touch of hate in his voice. Yeah, I'm surprised he was talking to me too. He normally avoids Near any chance he gets after a test or as he calls it a failure. Second isn't that bad though, but he's adamant on getting first. I couldn't change him, nor did I want to, I mean think of the effort that would have to be involved. It'd take too long anyways, and even though, like a lot of things, I won't admit it out loud, Mello's determination to beat Near was something I valued within his personality.

"Someone awesome, isn't it obvious?" Matt was heard chuckling at my sarcastic comment. I made my avatar dance, in the middle of nowhere where the map was crawling with enemies. Epic I know, but I was level 79 in the middle of a 60-65 level enemy zone, I was going to have to have a mob of enemies chasing me, pelting me in order for me to get close to death. I've actually done that before, telling Matt to hold off of the armor buffs and the health buffs in order for me to see about how long it'd take me to die. I ended up getting bored after 100K of my health points disappeared.

"Shut up!" yelled Mello, loud. I shook my head and scratched my ear. I thanked him for permanent ear damage. "It wasn't that bad, stop overreacting." I leaned back and put on a fake appalled expression, picking my hand from the keyboard and put it on my chest, not clutching it like I had done earlier, but to show how "hurt" I was from his comment. Me, overreact? That's ridiculous.

"Yeah, like you moping around after every test isn't overreacting," I shot back rolling my eyes as I pulled out my bow and started shooting arrows at random enemies, aggro out of the wadzu. I smiled and started bouncing around leading them to various traps I had scattered around, the health of the enemies depleting by a good amount, leaving only a hit or two for Matt or Mello, a Night Elf Warrior, to kick off of the health bar.

"Hey Kage, how's Japan?" asked Matt changing the subject as he took out the first of many enemies on the train that I had. I smiled replied that it was going fine, not having any troubles with communication. "Not bored at all? That's a shock, you're always asleep in class, and after a prank when you're in your room for punishment, and then you stay up all night. Though, the fact you can communicate easily isn't surprising Kage, I was with you when you were finished reading the Japanese to English dictionary. 'Hey Aka did you know that "Sora" means "Sky" in Japanese?' That changed my entire view of Kingdom Hearts for life."

"Right?" I said in agreement my eyes wide as I shook my head. "That's a good game regardless if the protagonist is called 'Sky' makes him sound like a girl though. Hey Kuja maybe you should play the game, after you finish Final Fantasy 9, your namesake awaits." A small knock was heard at the door. I looked up casually to see a tired Matsuda standing in the door. "Hey guys I'm sorry if you hear any Japanese, and I won't be able to translate L's orders." I set the laptop on the bedside table and asked "What's up?" in Japanese.

"Uh Ryuzaki asks that you return to the other room, he uh wants to talk to you," the young man said a little flustered. I nodded and slid off of the bed, having a mini heart attack from the astonishing height of the bed. I turned and frowned at the bed that was as tall as my waist. That thing is a health hazard! I should bring this to the attention of the people at the front desk, but that was all the way down stairs. Eh, I'll live.

"Hey guys, I'll be right back. If I lose Mr. Whiskers, I am going to run your head through on an arrow, I don't care that you're a tank and that I'm a aggro controller, your dead," I said taking off the headset and followed Matsuda into the other room, all the tapes in a slight better arrangement than they were before I left. They weren't neat trust me, but compared to the scattered, barely balanced piles from earlier it was better.

I saw my chair, yes I had claimed a chair, was set across from the one L was crouched in. Uh-oh. I've only seen this well, a lot and it never meant I was getting a prize, unless a stern talking to counted. I sighed and sat sideways, my legs hanging over the armrest, my back on the other one. I felt my light hearted smile melt off of my face and an emotionless mask replaced it. I found keeping this state of mind hard to maintain, I mean look at my personality that has been revealed so far, I can hardly sit still let alone keep a smile from my face for more than five minutes.

What's worse, I normally knew what I was in trouble for, here I was in the dark. I mean, I haven't pulled a prank, my annoyance level was kept at a minimum for the most part. I was even somewhat focused, what did I do wrong? It's not that I didn't mind being confused, I was more annoyed at the fact that I like to know what I did wrong before I got yelled for it, it makes my comments funnier.

"Ebony," started L calmly in English no less, taking a sip of his tea, holding the cup with only his index and thumb as if it was diseased, and looked up at me, "Watari has informed me that what you've demonstrated tonight, pertaining to your memory is only a part of what you're capable of, he bearing witness to it himself. However, given how you have forgotten who Naomi Misora is I would like to ask as to why this has happened." I nodded at the detective. Not in trouble, unless he thought I was lying, and though I did so occasionally, things like this I never lied about. I was also not surprised he figured out where my confused face from a couple of days ago was about. This guy was good.

"Perfect photogenic memory," I answered stoically looking at the hem of my dark blue t-shirt. "I do however recall what I hear at a slightly advanced rate, but it's still nothing compared to what I recall from seeing something. When I see something it's stuck there forever, if not a good couple of years. Anything else I remember it maybe a month longer than the normal person."

"I see, that explains your motives you asking if you could take notes for the sake of memorizing. What you said earlier, are you sure this is the right course of action?" I looked up shrugged and tilted my head to the side, a faint beeping heard, coming from my room. I sat up and swung my legs off of the chair.

"Excuse me Ryuzaki, I have a feeling my hacker friend is, well hacking," I said stumbling with my first couple of steps and looked at the Blue Screen of Death that was displayed on my screen, words written in generic white font on the screen. I sighed and shook my head, this kid was ridiculous. "Matt, can you still hear me?" I asked picking up my head set as I hooked one of my thumbs in my jeans.

"No," came his muffled static filled response. I couldn't help but smile. "Well, I screwed up, this hasn't happened before. Hey Eb, someone messed with the programming with your computer- no wait, that was me." I face palmed, good thing I didn't have family keepsakes on that thing.

"Really? If I recall your exact words, and I'm pretty sure these are them because you typed them up for emphasis, were 'Not even I can hack into your hard drive.' Well, you were right. And if I was going to save anything on the case, then I would have each word a different language in a random order so by the time you translated it, the message you would uncover would be something like 'Matt you idiot do you really think I'd save things on the case on this thing? I have a photographic memory,' Is Mr. Whiskers alive?" I said with a sarcastic eye roll as L knocked on the door. I gestured for him to walk in, and he crouched on the edge of my bed.

"Huh, well I can fix this, I just need to…..this might take a while," said Matt trailing off. "I might have to wipe your hard drive and reinstall everything, is there anything…..never mind if there's anything on here you could always recreate it one way or another right? Oh and well, uh Kuja kinda…killed it."

"Ah, I see I wouldn't put it past him to do that. I need it by tomorrow though, you never know if I have a sudden urge to take notes. I also have to ask, is watching the news too hard? Reading Yahoo for that matter." I rolled my eyes and looked at a loose strand of hair on my sleeve. I took the headset on the nightstand and looked at L. "To answer your question yes. His death was the weirdest out of the twelve. If we're going to be following them through the FBI, we might as well be a complete surreptitious group and install cameras and bugs in the family's houses."

"That would be the Yagami and Kitamura families." I nodded slowly and looked L in the eyes, and tilted my head. "You seem interested in people's eyes. Your gaze always locks on to other people's eyes as they talk, or even as they think. You're good at reading emotions, possibly even telling one's character." I smiled and leaned against the wall, or I tried too, I misjudged the distance and ended up falling against it. I laughed at my stupidity as I slid down the wall and stretched out one of my legs.

"Ryuzaki, you're a calculating person who thinks things over at least, five times before you state it out loud, your mind works pretty fast in order to do so. You, as you've said, are childish and hate to lose, and determination shines through your eyes almost as bright as the calculating quality. There is also a small block in the back of your eyes, this I'm used to. These are your secrets including your real name and how you became an orphan, also majority of your emotions are hidden there as well. You feel them, you just block it from your outward appearance," I said without blinking as I hug my knee. "I can also talk about Watari if you want, and Matt, Mello, Near, Roger, Task Force."

"That is unnecessary, do you think you could find Kira if you saw his eyes?" I shrugged and replied the best I could do was a suspect, telling definitively if a person was or wasn't Kira based solely on their eyes is impossible. "I would like you to go into town with Mr. Yagami's daughter Sayu Yagami posing as a cousin of one of Task Force member, while we set up cameras in their home, does you think you can do this?"

"I don't like to brag or anything, but I'm a pretty good actress if I do say so myself. Oh and Ryuzaki, you're trying to find out where my childishness ends, it's clear on how your studying gaze shifts to me when I'm in a 'mood.' I don't mind losing, unless I want to win. A loss is a loss and if you don't learn from your loss then you don't learn at all. Well I'm tired, it's about three in the morning, growing geniuses need their sleep."

"Yes of course, thank-you for talking with me Ebony," L stood up and started walking to the door as I stood up and brushed off imaginary dirt off of my stomach.

"Anytime, you're only human, and humans are social creatures. I am unaffected by a title of power, I've proven this twice now, at least." L bit his thumb and nodded before muttering something along the lines of "good night" Shell equals broken, point for Team Ebony!

* * *

**I think it's because I've worked on it for five days straight, but I am sick of this chapter. I mean I like it, but I'm tired of it. Am I making any sense? Ah oh well, I make sense to me, I guess that's all that matters right? No…ok. **

**Anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter I spent most of the week writing, rewriting and editing, I've been going through some writer's block and I hope it wasn't too obvious. I think I've started this chapter like three different times before I got past the first three pages. (My chapters average around ten) **

**Thanks for all of those who have favorited the story. And now my responses to the reviews :3**

**To Kasagal and Natures Ruler: **

_**Pie:**__ I know I had fun writing that! Even the goofball can have epic moments_

_**Ebony: **__Well I am pure awesomeness to begin with and now that I've openly declared war on Kira he better watch out._

_**Mello: **__Yeah…he's gonna wish he never met you, you're annoying you know that?_

_**Ebony: **__I try _

_**Pie: **__Could you two go through one "Let's connect with the readers" section without fighting? _

_**Ebony:**__ Is this a trick question?_

_**Pie: **__…I don't think it is. _

_**Mello: **__Knowing how Ebony is going to stretch out the explanation. No, no we can't go through this without fighting._

**To: Chocoholics Unite**

_**Pie: **__ O.O that was a random comment. I'm just going to start with the make-up XD. I don't "need" mascara, apparently my eyelashes are full and…whatever else mascara does. I only wear eyeliner on my top lid, if I put it on both I look like Ozzy Osborne. _

_**Ebony and Matt: **__"WE'RE GOING OFF THE RAILS ON OUR CRAZY TRAIN!" _

_**Mello: **__Do you have to piss me off? Ya know what? I'm going to ignore you, yeah take that I'm not going to give you my attention, I already have a pain in my neck._

_**Ebony: **__It's a title I'm proud of. _

_**Matt:**__ Hey I got pulled into this too Mells….It's-a me, Matt! _

_**Ebony: **__She does have a point though, red and blonde people automatically have a cuteness factor to them. _

_**Mello:**__ YOU'RE NOT HELPING!_

_**Ebony:**__ Not helping you….or Matt….hmm maybe I should reconsider where I put my alliance. _

_**Matt and Mello: **__Ya think? _

_**Ebony:**__ Yes, I think there for I am. _

_**Pie: **__What does that have to do with anything?_

_**Ebony: **__Nothing whatsoever. _

_**Mello: **__pfft, figures. _

_**Pie: **__I also like how everyone is avoiding the subject of the Yaoi….. _

_**Matt:**__ Please don't get Mello started on that…_

_**Ebony: **__Please, he'll never shut-up. _

_**Mello:**__ I said I wasn't responding to her._

_**Ebony:**__ -.- then what have you been doing here the entire time?_

_**Mello: **__…._

_**Pie:**__ He's actually quiet, Another point for Ebony!_

**To: Hello-Totoro-Ninja**

_**Pie:**__ I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I'm a crowd pleaser, so knowing that I am pleasing the crowd is good for me. _

_**Ebony: **__And what happens when you don't please the crowd?_

_**Pie:**__ I dunno yet._

_**Ebony: **__I know, just have me do something brilliantly stupid and then problem solved! ^_^_

_**Pie:**__ …I guess that could work… _

**Well that's all, I'm done. **


	6. Chapter 6 Pranks in the Light

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note and all of its awesomeness, Ebony is mine though. **

**Chapter Six Pranks in the Light **

I have learned that I'm not the best one to count on when it comes to hiding laughter. I always crack, snort, grunt, or my face just turns an unhealthy shade of red. In other words, I'm a dead giveaway. So, being the genius I am I've locked myself in my room, pacing the floor waiting and listening. I paused and tilted my head to the side, holding my hand up and started counting down from five.

"Ebony, would you please come here?" I heard right on cue. I stopped dead in my tracks turning toward the closed door, the thud I predicted didn't happen. I opened my door and collected myself, knowing it was pointless, once I saw the fruits of my "labor" I was going to lose it. I took a step into the room, trying to look as innocent as possible before beholding the comedic war zone in the other room. Stopping after one step to close my eyes and gave up fighting the smile on my lips as I continued walking into the other room.

"Morning Ryuzaki," I said laughter lacing my voice as I looked at the detective. Now, let me explain the genius that is an Ebony prank. I took the cushion out of L's chair and took all the stuffing out of it, replacing it with loosely packed newspaper so when and weight is placed on the seat, it will cave in and fall. Now, this wouldn't work on L, simply because he likes to crouch on seats. So, I fixed this problem with the discarded fluffy stuff and a sewing kit. I lined the seat with the stuffing, so when it caved in around him he would be stuck. I might've put in more than I thought was needed to ensure that he was stuck, and that left him dangling about three inches off of the ground, so no thump.

L looked at me with a slight frown that was covered slightly by the wooden frame of the chair and the fluffy edges of the cushion. He was crouched like he normally was, but it looked more like a kid sat in a trash can or a small basket when they pretended to be a turtle and then got stuck. I had to say, not laughing was impossible, I was going to explode if I held in my laughter any longer.

"When did you do this?" Sure his voice was still emotionless and monotone, but guess who saw the fact he wasn't the most pleased person in the world? Yup, I did, and I couldn't be happier that I was playing the part of distraction while Watari set up the cameras in the Kitamura and Yagami houses. I lost my composure, laughing so hard I couldn't stand. I leaned against the door frame and took three deep breaths as I adverted my gaze from L.

I looked at his eyes after my laughing fit was over, man did I feel better. "Well, this prank was installed at about four, when you were in your room," I said with a shrug as I closed my eyes and smiled with a small bounce. "Took me an hour to gut the cushion and then another half hour to re-stuff it with news paper and to sew stuffing in the edges to make sure you couldn't just stand up." I sat on the couch and kicked my feet happily.

There was a knock at the door, I looked at L and laughed, as he tried to stand up, and it was like a turtle on his back, the chair almost tipped over. I closed my eyes and lost my balance, laying on my back and rolling off of the couch and stood up stumbling toward the door, tears threatening to spill over, I need to stop holding in laughter. "Don't worry, I got it. The door, I'm having too much fun looking at you while you look like a trapped kid," I laughed as I opened the door, finding Task Force looking down at me like I was crazy.

"What? Is there something on my face? Is my hair a mess? Don't tell my fly's down!" I almost yelled as I covered my eyes in fake embarrassment. Don't get me wrong, my face was red because I was holding in my laughter. "Don't look upon my shame!" I chuckled and took the seat next to L, laying in the chair sideways, saluting the detective. "So what's the plan Ryuzaki? And I mean for Kira not your revenge on me, or getting out of you uh, situation there is a quick release only I know about."

"Ebony is going on a tour of the city with Mr. Yagami's daughter, I would like her to get any information on the Yagami family while we're out, but her primary objective is to simply blend in. Matsuda, Aizawa, I would like you two to watch the surveillance of Sub-chief Kitamura's house. Mr. Yagami, myself, and Ebony will watch the Yagami household. She will also be switching back and forth during the day. Mogi and Ukita will be reading over new killings and try to find any patterns," L explained resting his fork on his lip in thought. I took a piece of my hair and inspected the ends, trying to decide if I needed to attack my hair with scissors. I looked at L and shrugged, it shouldn't really matter with him here does it?

"So, I get to have fun making friends all day," I said distantly, looking at the Aizawa who gently clenched his hands. I will admit, he interested me the most out of the task force, the glare of distrust and suppressed anger. "Am I going to be bugged like the houses, or should I just make mental notes?" I was handed a black chained necklace with a ruby the size of a quarter on it. I smiled at it and took the chain and clasped it around my neck, only to see L's outstretched hand with an earpiece. I put it in as well with a sarcastic eyeroll. "Happy?"

"Not until Kira has been brought to justice." I paused, and looked at L. Sure this man had close to no personality from what I've seen, he's extremely blunt, intelligent and quiet, but there was something about his determination to beat Kira that confused me. I tapped my chin lightly and turned toward the monitor in front of L, or would be if it was eye level, names. All that was written on the screen were names. I turned and studied the bags under his eyes, someone didn't like sleep.

"Hmm, so you're not going to sleep until then? Coming to a town near you Ruyzaki the Zombie, bent on catching Kira!" I sang happily holding my hands out, palms flat as it I pictured a poster in front of me. I looked at the window and guessed at the time, if I was going to pull prank number two, now or never. "Hey Matsuda, I think there is something in the kitchen that could help get L out of this 'predicament'."

"Uh, sure," said the cop turning toward the kitchen. I held up my hand again, counting down from five. Task Force looked at me in a mix of confusion and panic. "Help!" came a distant call right on cue. I stood up and check kicked one of the legs of L's chair, a loud snap radiated from the chair, the frame falling away from the raven-haired man. He looked up at me, as if saying "That's all it took?" I smiled and skipped into the kitchen, pausing before reaching the door to beckon the rest of the team.

"And this is why gentlemen I don't stand boredom," I said before laughing at Matsuda who was tangled in a no longer invisible web of fishing line. I felt Task Force freeze as they stood behind me and saw a very uncomfortable Matsuda. His right foot was dangling off of the web, his hands twisted five times over in the line, his left leg folded under him. His head even had wire wrapped around it, thankfully none around his neck. I had to guess at his height, and even though there was one wire that could run around his neck, it was lose so any struggle would detach it from the web.

I weaved myself across the kitchen to one of the four lines and opened the cabinet and used scissors to cut the four lines where they met. I turned and watched as the second youngest person in this hotel room onto the floor with a loud thud. I knelt down at his face, jumping over him. "Are you alright?" I asked with a tilt of my head. Matsuda nodded as I helped him up and looked for a wire that would detangle him. I had about three hundred different patterns of how this could've played out, now I had to figure out which one was the answer. "Stand still, I'm looking for- found it!" I pulled the line and the entire webbing flew off of the cop. I turned back to face Task Force with a triumphant smile on my face.

"Boredom is only a state of mind, all you need to do is keep it occupied. Though I would suggest refraining from pulling distracting pranks like these while here," said L looking at the mess I had made, picking up a loose strand of fishing line with two fingers. I looked at him as if he just said the useless answer to life from "The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Everyone, but me, followed L back into the other room while I took a can of pineapples from the cabinet and set it on the automated can opener. I leaned into the room and responded to L.

"42, Ruyzaki. I don't know what question that answers, and I've read the book 47 times. What you said is almost as worthless as an answer without a question. I just get disinterested easily, I fall asleep sometimes, hoping that I may dream away boredom, but Roger normally wakes me up before that happens." I scratched my cheek as I grabbed my pineapples and threw myself onto my chair. I heard the lock of the door click. Watari walked in and announced that the cameras and bugs ready to be set up. "Yay! Almost time to watch TV!" I threw my arms up and slipped off of the chair, hitting my head. I rubbed the back of my head and stood up.

"Actually Ebony, Miss Yagami will be getting near the shopping center as planned out by Mr. Yagami. Ryuzaki wants you to get there early," said the handler. I nodded, and went to the kitchen and grabbed a strawberry, eating it as I walked out of the door, waving to Task Force and L as I left. I opened my own door as Watari sat in the driver's seat of the same car that I came in. I watched the route play out in front of me, just in case I needed to get back. I distantly ate my can of pineapples as I figured I'd ask just where we were going.

"Where are you going to drop me off?" I asked curiously, tapping the window. It was cloudy, one of those days that I'd just hang around the house and eat Mello's chocolate just to mess with him. I smiled sadly as I looked into the can and frowned, why does fruit always disappear around me?

"To Aoyama, don't worry, with that necklace will allow us to see and hear everything," he explained. I nodded slowly and exhaled onto the window and drew a smiley face on the glass. I felt Watari looked at me briefly and he slightly chuckled. "Ryuzaki saw your drawings, he almost smiled at a few." I smiled and lightly kicked my feet and pictured all of my drawings in that notebook, there was only about five and I tended to use both sides of the paper even though it screwed up my shading.

"Yeah, I like the one where I'm stealing Mello's chocolate and he is almost killing me, though I drew that four times. I like the third one the best, his hair was on fire," I held up a finger as if that was the main point of my argument. Watari chuckled as he turned the steering wheel left. The car continued on its path, the buildings gradually getting shorter and shorter. The sky opened up above us, the sun shining into the car.

"So Miss. Ebony, why have you decided to have such an attachment to fruit?" asked Watari after a moment of silence. I unglued myself from the car window and looked over the dashboard, wanting to shift my position so that I sat sideways in the chair, I ate the last pineapple piece that was in the can, setting it in the cup holder.

"I guess it's the same as why Ryuzaki likes sugar, why Mello eats so much chocolate, why Near plays with his toys, and Matt with his video games, it helps when it comes to clearing our thoughts. If I don't eat while I think utter nonsense leaves my mouth, or I repeat the same things over and over," I said pausing after I was done and looked at Watari. Yeah, I was shocked I had said my brilliant deductions last night without my "thinkin' food"

"I see, when I'm out getting more cake for Ryuzaki, would you like any specific fruit purchased for you?" I paused, and looked out the car window. I considered this, any fruit in the world. Though I love my fruit friends there needs to be a Pizza flavored, or better yet taco flavored fruit, not that would make my day, no life. Yeah, I could die happy even though I had no part in making such awesome creation.

"Any and all, I would like pomegranate if possible, star fruit as well. I have no preference, but grapes and apples are my favorites, I will also be conducting a few experiments with the apples," I asked not wanting to ask for more apples directly. That simple sentence was still bugging me. I didn't know why though, maybe I'm just over thinking something simple, it wouldn't be the first time.

"If you require more apples for the investigation I will happily purchase more," Watari said with a smile. I nodded and mumbled my thanks as the car came to a stop. Watari handed me a credit card, saying that it had no limit but I had to make my purchases wisely so that nobody tries to track the credit of its assumed owner. I nodded and stepped out of the car, I turned around and look in my surroundings, people walking around with bags that came from stores that lines the street. Ya know, maybe I should've asked Mr. Yagami what his daughter even looked like.

"You must be Ebony," said a girl my age with brown hair that half of it was bound in a pony tail. She was wearing a brown skirt and a light jade green shirt. There was someone walking behind her, taller older. He was a high school student with neat brown hair that covered majority his eyes. I nodded and bowed as per the stereotype. I mean, I should go big or go home right?

"And you must be Sayu Yagami, yes?" I asked slowly in heavily accented Japanese. To anyone in England, in five seconds flat you'd be called out for being a fake. Here however I could use my fake accent and nobody would be the wiser, unless it went Australian on me, which my accent tended to do.

"Sure am! This is Light, my brother, he was just making sure I got here safely. Don't you have to go study for those exams?" she asked looking up at the older teen. He blinked, realizing that he was lost in thought, his hair momentarily to uncover his eyes. My mind went on autopilot analyzing his eyes from that brief moment when he was in shock.

I blinked twice, something was off about him. From experience I've known people to hide their eyes because of secrets, and this guy had the "I'm smart, ha-ha-ha" air around him, meaning he was also probably someone who had a girl on his arm for decoration rather than emotional ties. Meaning, manipulation was probably a third language to him.

"She's right, I'll see you at home Sayu," he said as he waved at his sister, turning to walk off. "Mom should be the one picking you up on her way home." Sayu jumped and waved her brother off. I looked after him, something was really really off about him. I was jerked into a store as the girl immediately went to a clothing rack, the colors almost blinding to me.

I shifted through the graphic t-shirts anyway, the lime green ones with a blond anime boy dressed in a dinosaur saying that "rawr" meant I love you. I heard a gentle click in my ear, L was about to give me the question to 42? This would be monumental; we're talking about the meaning of life people!

"That statement is totally false. The term 'rawr' could mean a multitude of things," I heard from the earpiece L had given me. I inhaled and sighed and shook my head. I looked around and mumbled that the point of the shirt was to make people laugh, not expanding one's vocabulary in dinosaur language. "Regardless, it's still false." Well, this is better than him being mad at me from that prank and totally vandalizing the hotel room.

"Oh my god! Ebony, you have to try this on!" I turned and saw a gothic style dress, the kind I would see anyone else but me wear, I wasn't much of a dress person. The sleeves were fishnets that would barely covered my shoulders and the skirt looked like it would go down to just above my knees. I felt my heart freeze for a brief second as I recollected myself, picturing someone else in the dress instead.

"I'm going to have to say no, I have a friend, that if he was a girl would totally wear that though," I said laughing and shaking my head. Sayu smiled and chuckled at me as she put the dress back on the rack. She bounced around the store looking through the neon rack I had left for the dark colors.

"So, why do you have goggles around your neck?" she asked pointing to the orange object around my neck. I heard a warning from L, not to reveal any information. I knew however names, even Matt and his alias was his secret to hold. I ran my hand through my hair and ran my thumb from my right hand over the stitching of Matt's name smiling to myself as I bowed my head.

"They belong to a friend, he gave them to me before I left," I said with a shrug as I pulled out a black t-shirt from the rack and smiled at the saying printed on the fabric. "In case of emergency run like hell." "Now this is a t-shirt I'd wear," I said with a smile, "It'd really stick it to Kira, eh?" I looked at Sayu, the playful sparkle left her eye. I lowered the shirt and put it on the rack. "What's up?" My own smile melted as I crossed the room and looked her in the eyes.

"Nothing," she lied. It was something, Kira was a sore subject. She knew her dad was working on the case and by bringing it up it opened wounds of worry. I tilted my head toward her but said nothing as I turned around and grabbed the dress, taking the necklace off and handing it to the girl. She looked at it wide eyed, I giggled imagining the image on L's monitor.

"Hold it for me please? I don't want to accidently forget it in the dressing room," I said looking at my shoes in embarrassment. The girl smiled and said she'd watch the necklace. I walked into the dressing room, and expected to get a stern talking to by L, he was lucky I still had the necklace. I could've "accidently" let the necklace fall off of my neck while I was riding to the shopping mall.

"Normally I wouldn't condone giving the one you're watching the bug, but you're idea is brilliant seeing how she doesn't know I find this to be appropriate." I rolled my eyes and wanted to comment I gave it to her because I didn't want him peeping in on me changing, but this made me sound smarter, more careful than I already was. I smiled and put the dress on, the fake silk fabric felt snug and I really didn't care. It wasn't like I was going to buy it, right?

I turned and looked at me in the mirror, my hair was a mess. My long side bangs weren't as tossed to the side as they normally are, covering my left eye. With the right boots, and maybe a gun I'd look really cool. I smiled as I felt the image get burned into my memory.

"Sayu, are you out there?" I heard her confirm her presence as I opened the door and let her look at me in the dress, still trying to figure out if she did this on purpose, but I put the idea on the fact I brought up the Kira case, which was associated with her father. If she did do this on purpose, she was smarter than I gave her credit for. It's been a while since I've interacted with normal people.

"You look pretty!" said the teen as she bounced. "You have to buy it, with some more fishnets and maybe some boots, you get changed, what size do you wear in shoes?" I told her my respectable shoe size, 7 and went back into the dressing room. I walked out with the dress on the hanger, looking at the price tag, $40. I coughed on my spit as the girl walked up with shoes, another twenty dollars and fifteen dollar fishnets. I went to the cashier, thinking I could use this at some point as a disguise, and made my $75 purchase, leaving the store with a smile.

"Where to now?" I asked as I pointed to the necklace, reminding the teen that it was mine. She looked down as if remembering she was wearing it and took it off, handing it to me. I clasped it around my neck, leaning my head back in exasperation; yup totally put it on backwards. I took the necklace off and put it on the right way.

"I dunno, hungry?" asked the energetic girl as she skipped through the streets. "I have to go soon, I have quadratic homework." I perked up a little, the quadratic equation was one of my favorites. I then remembered that I was supposed to be stupid compared to my normal self, which wasn't a stretch just had to watch out on my word choices, I've had years of experience with that though.

I liked math, but nobody could tell. Five problems in and I was already taking a nap, or yelling out loud in distress on my own boredom, making Mello mad. I smiled at the memory and continued to follow her and enjoy a nice warm sandwich. Sayu was talking about her everyday life, I paid little attention, knowing L was. I had other things on my mind, and no it wasn't what my next prank was going to be. I already had that planned out. Next topic please, oh there was one.

I bit the inside of my cheek in thought, Light Yagami, according to his sister spent majority of his time in his room. From the same source, I could only assume that he was studying, that's what she said anyways. I knew from experience with even the most dedicated student, Near and Mello, that studying hours on end eventually leads to loss of information because the mind and person eventually get tired. It was safe to assume that he had other things to keep him occupied in his room, right? Surely he had a computer, or a TV. Then there was the question on whether or not it was being used.

"Good afternoon Ebony, did you two have fun?"I jumped and lifted my head to see a sincere looking woman, that Sayu resembled almost to a T, Mrs. Yagami. I nodded as Sayu described the dress I had bought. I scratched the back of my head as Watari walked in. I ran over and gave him a hug, making it seem as if we were family.

"Grandpa!" I said happily. I turned toward Sayu and her mother. "I had fun, we should do this again sometime, bye Sayu! Nice to meet Mrs. Yagami." I bowed respectfully as I held onto Watari's hand as he grabbed my bag and lead me to the car. I sat in the driver's seat. L was still looking at surveillance, through the necklace, I was sure of it. I smiled and kicked my feet. 3%, Light being Kira, same as L. This was getting more and more interesting by the second.

"So, how was shopping?" asked the kind old man. I smiled and let my bangs fall into my eyes as I suppressed a giggle, I was having too much fun today it was almost criminal! I didn't meet his eyes as the car started moving.

"I spent $76.84, a little pricey form my opinion, but it was only one outfit, minus accessories, perfectly normal for a teenage girl to spend on one shopping trip, assuming they had the money," I said as I bowed my head, noticing the cup of grapes. I smiled and picked them up, putting three in my mouth.

"Ebony, when you return, I want you to come with me and Mr. Yagami, Light just left his house," I heard in the earpiece. I froze as I saw the guy in question as the car passed. So he had returned home, but what could he be doing? I lifted my head and tilted it to the side slowly, my eyes widening slightly.

"I know where he is L," I looked at the rear view mirror and watched as he went inside a convince store. I turned my body and looked through the rear windshield, the car slowing down. Light casually walked in, looking over his shoulder briefly. "He's gone into a convenience store, hmm…4%. If what he 'forgot' was important, than he wouldn't have forgotten it."

"I couldn't agree more Ebony," he replied on the other end. "Regardless I need you to come back here immediately." I hesitated, and waited until the car stopped before acting out for the second time today, a record for my time in Japan, may I add. I ripped the necklace off, keeping the ear piece in as I opened the door and sprinted through the street and as I approached the store Light walked in, slowed down to a walk. I shook my head and inhaled deeply, I had about two minutes.

I walked in; glad I still had the credit card, snacks here I come. I clasped my hands and rubbed my hands together and walked in happily. I looked around, like I was unsure of my surroundings and winced as L started yelling at me because I disobeyed him, something I was sure he wasn't used to, I was going to pay for this I knew, but I thought it was going to be worth it. Information was the game at this point, and I was in too good of a mood to listen to a voice of reason that said that if my 4% was right I was dead.

"Light?" I yelled turning my head in confusion, "Hey Light!" I bounced over and noticed the magazines, I noticed the one in his hand and smiled. Someone's dad wasn't going to be happy he was reading this one. "Whatcha doing?" I asked with a tease in my voice as I nodded toward the magazine, looking at a chocolate catalog, Mello would be proud.

"Ebony, fancy seeing you here, how was shopping?" I looked at Light and shrugged. I saw him study me out of the corner of his eye, his hands busy flipping through magazines. If a plane landed outside, I don't think he'd turn to watch that, no apparently I had such an importance according to him.

"Didn't really buy anything. Actually I was just heading home when I remembered that I was out of chocolate," I lied smoothly as I stared at the perfect chocolate bar, it was milk chocolate laced with caramel, and specks of white chocolate. I looked at the cover and noted the company and the item number, I was going to return the favor of the three of them giving me what they did when I left.

"Really? Hey, the thought just occurred to me, but were you afraid of Kira when coming here?" I blinked at Light. This was a test, if he was Kira then by answering him I would show that news of Kira wasn't just shown here in Japan. Though, wasn't he studying to be a cop? More importantly, do I show him that I'm smart?"

"No, well I was but I have family here and they said Kira only kills criminals," I lied smoothly looking at him in the eyes, studying them as they flashed in confusion. I suppose I could say some random nonsense, I mean I was posing as a foreigner. I weighed the percentage of Light thinking I was with L, only around 30%. Man, what I would give to read minds right about now. "I do think that Kira however is," I paused here and if I was looking for the right word, "a good guy." The last three words came out slowly.

Light jerked is head back, his eyes widening, not of horror. No, out of shock, pure utter shock, I turned my head to the side and asked if I had said anything wrong. I didn't get a response, he just stood there for a moment thinking. Not even blinking, Ebony 1, Light 0. Never have I hated the fact that I had won something, come-on just say that you know I'm bluffing please.

"N-no you didn't say anything wrong, unless you meant to say that Kira was a bad guy," Light said in heavily accented English. I smiled at him, the one that showed that I was relieved that I didn't have to keep trying to translate in my head. I nodded once and turned to look out of the window.

"That's right," I said switching to English, keeping the fake English accent. "I find what this person is doing is noble, it's the quickest way to cleanse the world, no?" I turned back to the magazines trying to fight the bile rising in the back of my throat. Light didn't voice his opinion, if he figured I was here with L, then he knows no matter what he says he isn't going to win this conversation without raising L's suspicions.

"What about L, what do you think will happen to him?" Safe move, change the subject and there's no suspicion, unless you're me or L. I shrugged and said that L wasn't technically doing anything wrong, but if L was all that everyone said he was then Kira should be working on a way to keep him off of his trail. "So, you don't want him dead?"

"Now, that would make Kira just like every other murderer wouldn't it?" I asked as the door dinged, signaling that someone had walked in. I put the magazine back and turned to look over my shoulder, well this was an interesting conversation. "Well that's my grandpa!" I smiled as I felt a hand grab hold of the collar of my t-shirt.

"No, lemme at 'em. I was soo close on getting a name, lemme go!" I yelled grabbing onto everything to prevent Watari from dragging me to the car. I laughed as I noticed people were watching wide-eyed. "Help I'm being kidnapped by an old man! Anyone help me! No? Thanks random people, for nothing" I crossed my arms and gave up, allowing myself to be taken back to the hotel without further complaints.

I felt cold metal as I heard a click, and then a second one. I sighed and sat sideways in the chair I had claimed as mine the minute I set foot in the hotel. I let my hair fall into my face without protest, it was as if I never left the orphanage. Only this time, I didn't have a secret bobby pin hidden in my hair. Alright, I didn't have one in England either but that's beside the point?

"Really L, chaining me to the chair after I disobeyed once?" I sighed again. "Well, considering what happened this morning was justifiable as another reason to chain me up, but still I can barely get to the bathroom with this chain around my wrist!" I gestured toward the shackle as I continued my fake tirade.

The only reason I kept the shackle on at the orphanage because the last person who had it disappeared once he removed it, I wasn't that curious. However, I knew if L saw me as a valuable member of the Kira case, I figured I had some leniency, right? Yeah maybe not. I looked at the hand cuff around my wrist, these were useful In my opinion, I always had a pair hidden in my room, I could either prevent people from leaving my side, or take them around a place I never went near and avoid them completely.

"This is to prevent any more, occurrences like what happened today," said L crouching on the chair. I sighed and turned toward the TV and rested my chin on my palm and my elbow on the armrest, wishing I had my notebook and a pencil, or my laptop, I knew the chain didn't have enough slack to get me to the other room where everything was.

I jumped as my eyes were covered by Mr. Yagami. "What gives?" I asked holding my hands out looking making sure I wasn't being moved. "I can't see!" I yelled. Still surrounded by darkness I heard L shuffle to my side. There was a moment of silence, the only sounds coming from the shuffling of paper from the TV, what I was assuming Light doing something.

"Mr. Yagami, I understand you find the magazines your son is reading to be inappropriate, but Ebony is a teenage girl and if she doesn't know what a woman looks like in a swimsuit by now, we should be concerned," said L, his voice muffled, his thumb clearly in his mouth. The hand was removed and I looked at the magazine. I sighed and shook my head. I turned my head to the side, as I leaned forward looking at the magazine.

"Good thing you let me see, he just bought that magazine after he left the house and went to the convenience store," I muttered crossing my arms angrily, wishing for fruit, preferably a citrus fruit. "He's suspicious of something, asked me for my thoughts of Kira. Could mean anything but it doesn't help his innocence at this moment. Mr. Yagami, if you don't mind, could you get me an orange from the fridge and my laptop and notebook from my room? If not I'll try to pick the lock, this chain only has enough slack to get me to the bathroom, about two feet from my bed in the other direction."

"You figured that out just by looking at the chain?" L asked. I looked at him and asked if he knew how I was commonly being punished during my stay at the orphanage he looked at me and eventually nodded as the police chief got up and gathered the materials I requested. He held me in the same light as L, respect, but heavy distrust. I didn't really mind, I was here to stop Kira, not make friends. Though, that would be a plus wouldn't it?

"Thanks chief," I said as I took up my pencil and opened the laptop, putting it on the floor, letting the devise power up. I started sketching a face lightly, just letting my pencil move across the page, unsure what was going to pop out. L was turning back and forth between the screen and my drawing, his eye showing curiosity at what I was sketching.

"What do you think of Light Ebony?" asked L, knowing full well I wasn't paying the slightest attention. I looked up and scowled at him and turned toward the screen, he was still reading the magazine. I turned back to my light sketch of the face and froze, it was Light.

"I think he's narcissist, he proved so during my rebellion. This also suggests that the girls at his high school don't live up to his standards, because he's looking at 'perfect,'" I paused and air quoted the word before darkening the lines of my drawing of the only suspect I had on the Kira case, "women he has unreal standards. Mr. Yagami, has Light ever had a serious girlfriend?" I asked quietly as I finished off the orange.

"No, he has had girlfriends, but none very serious." I nodded at the father's response as Light got up from his bed, and put up the magazine. I smiled to myself, lifting my eyes to look at Mr. Yagami, this was proving my point.

Dinner was uneventful in the Yagami household, Light barely responded to the fake announcement of 1500 investigators. Alright he did, but it was something I didn't find as important as watching him study. If he really studying the entire time Sayu said that he did, then he had an alibi. One that was barely believed, but an alibi is an alibi. Maybe I should think about asking Sayu is his behavior changes after the exams, if it stays the same maybe there was something else worth looking into.

I laughed as I finished signing the picture of Light. He had a system going on. Write what could look like either a sentence, or one math equation, and then he'd stick his hand in the chip bag on his desk and leave it there while he looked at it. After that he'd eat the chip. I frowned at it and narrowed my eyes as he took another chip out of the bag.

His head jerked slightly as he bit it in half, freezing in the pose for a literal second. I laughed at this, now an Olympic sport I could get into "epic poses while eating." I did something similar with a mango slice. This was fun!

"Ebony, what are you doing?" asked L turning slightly toward me when I was approaching second 10 of holding the pose. I relaxed and finally chewed on the bite of mango in my mouth.

"Well, Light epically posed, if figured I'd give it a try," I shrugged as I swallowed. "I mean if I'm stuck here until I am lead into my room like a dog on a leash I might as well try to make this fun. If I didn't there'd be a repeat of this morning, only the pranks will be more elaborate, and may or may not involve things exploding."

"Ebony, let's not cause our hotel suit explode." I rolled my eyes and gave him a half smile as I yawned and stretched across the chair, this was going to be a long investigation, and out of the three that I have single handedly solved, that wasn't saying much. It only took six hours to solve those.

**I really have no news, other than…nope still nothing. Other than the epically lame ending to the chapter I have nothing to say to you guys. I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless, I mean hey, she's met Light. **

**Thanks to everyone who has favorited/alerted, you guys rock. Now for the review responses.**

**To: I Got Mugged by a Penguin**

_**Pie: **__I bet you haven't even read the story…and the first three paragraphs don't count._

_**Ebony: **__Oh you big baby, why don't you just respond to your real life friend? _

_**Pie:**__ Have you read her comment? _

_**Ebony: **__….no_

_**Pie:**__ ANYWAYS….Peter._

_**Ebony:**__ Pet….OOOOOHHHHHHHH You and you're kids and your Johnson! _

_**L: **__I've lost understanding of where this conversation has gone._

_**Ebony: **__Good, 'cause if you did understand you'd have Watari wash my mouth out with soap._

_**Near:**__ That means Ebony has went into the juvenile realm of the vulgar, but given the comment that we were given you can hardly blame her._

_**L:**__ Yes, I suppose you have a point there…_

_**Pie:**__ I might be being nice and bringing L and Near here for your entertainment my "dearest" friend, but I like writing Mello and Ebony's interactions better._

_**Ebony: **__Yeah….he's fun to mess with. _

_**Pie: **__AND NOT IN THE WAY YOU'RE THINKING, sorry it had to be said._

_**L: **__This person must be an extremely vulgar person…._

_**Pie:**__ She makes the gutter look sparkling clean :3_

**To: Chocoholics Unite:**

_**Pie:**__ Small pranks turn into big pranks, don't worry there is an epic prank pulled later on in the story…I'm going to leave it at that because it would spoil._

_**Ebony: **__Really? I've counted two….and I have the better memory here. _

_**Pie:**__ Yeah… you do. Anyways I would like to say that when I wrote this it was about 8 PM, and Normally it's noon-ish when I edit these chapters. Soooo my craziness comes naturally I suppose._

_**Ebony: **__pppsshhhhhhhhhhh you know you get your inspiration from me!_

_**Matt: **__Uh, Eb, you came from her so if she gets inspiration from you then it's like getting inspiration from herself and that is just an idea._

_**Ebony: **__Do you have to burst my bubble? I thought that was Mello's job._

_**Matt: **__Yeah, but his "mature" self has stopped talking during this person's review. I decided someone should take over._

_**Ebony: **__ Give me two minutes…_

_**Pie:**__ Oh-no. *hears explosion*_

_**Mello: **__EBONY! *storms out covered in whipped cream*_

_**Pie:**__ It's like Shizuo and Izaya from Durarara! Only with pranks…..and there's no informant causing chaos._

_**Matt:**__ *takes off goggles* Ebony what did you do?_

_**Ebony:**__ *ducks under punch* Uh…..isn't it obvious I used like three cans of whipped cream and made him mad! Now say Hi Mello._

_**Mello: **__F-You _

_**Ebony: **__Eh close enough. _

_**Pie: **__Can't you guys feel the love? No? Alright… _

_ I'm decent at videogames, but my I mostly play RPG's, mainly Final Fantasy and Skyrim. I used to play WoW, but I stopped once I got bored with it. _

_**Ebony:**__ Yeah I remember, you were a Night Elf hunter, level twenty._

_**Pie:**__ …Thanks._

_**Matt:**__ You also died a lot. _

_**Pie:**__….yeah I did.. HEY not everyone is a controller wizard._

_**Mello: **__ Tch I've seen you play Call of Duty 6/13 really? _

_**Pie:**__ Alright that's not fair that's my first time playing online. _

_**Matt: **__Still counts._

_**Pie: **__…_

**To: Kashgal and Natures Ruler**

_**Pie:**__ Alright I read your comment when I was getting tired, and it took me five minutes to figure out who "N.R." was. I feel really slow now XD. Throw pies in my face or something, I mean I deserve at least a scolding._

_**Ebony: **__ I got it covered! *wags finger like old lady scolding kids* Pie you're a bad person and you should give me lazer eyes that only destroys Kira so if I zap Kira he turns to dust._

_**Matt:**__ Ebony, those don't exist, and will never exist. _

_**Ebony: **__I can dream can't I?_

_**Pie:**__ I suppose…_

_**Ebony: **__ *whistles as she unties Kashgal*_

_**Mello/Kuja: **__WTF did you do? SHE'S GONNA KILL ME! _

_**Ebony:**__ No she won't, just call on your silver dragon and fly away._

_**Pie:**__ Uh Ebony, Kuja has the dragon, Mello has bup-kiss and Oh look a sammich!_

_**Ebony: **__Aww come-on she was entertaining. But I do see Mr. Blondie's point, now…how to we re-save the humanity I just re-endangered _

_**Matt:**__ *sigh* At least you admit it was a stupid move. Hey, wasn't she looking for a sandwich?_

_**Ebony:**__ That's it! *grabs sammich and runs around yard*_

_**Pie:**__ I guess that solves that problem, it's a good thing she has a lot of practice running. _

_**Matt:**__ Don't you think we should make an escape plan?_

_**Mello: **__I know one thing, we're not going into the bathroom….where'd Pie go?_

_**Pie: **__*Hides in underground bunker* :D *whispers* I'm glad you like the story. _


	7. Chapter 7 This Hotel has a Pool

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. Ebony is mine.**

**Chapter Seven This Hotel has a Pool**

"Hey Matsuda, can you please get me another piece of fruit?" I asked as I steadied myself on my head, holding my spiral in a way to where I could see the picture of Light I had drawn yesterday, making sure every line was perfect, shading in the right places blah blah blah stupid details that make all the difference. Aizawa was sitting next to me, like a normal person, that's overrated. "How are you today Mr. Aizawa?" I got no answer to my question as Matsuda came back with an apple. I paused and looked at the shiny red fruit, putting the notebook down by simply dropping it.

I tilted my head, as I fell off of the couch, my stomach performing acrobatics, it's talented I know. I panicked and threw the fruit up into the air. My eyes were forced closed, a pop heard by me and only me, a slight pain felt in the back of my neck. I coughed on my spit as I held my left hand out, catching the glossy red apple. I sat up, the chain of the hand cuffs tangled around my ankle. I pulled myself free and looked up at Matsuda as he cleared his throat. I blew up at the ends of my hair as a piece fell into my face.

"Ebony, what do you think of the Kitamura family?" asked Matsuda innocently, nervous. This is much like he spoke to L, not wanting to sound stupid was my guess of his motives. I lowered the apple and looked at the screen, a piece of hair still in my eye. From what I could tell this was a normal family, during the day the man of the house was gone at the police station, their daughter was off to enjoy her weekend with some friends and the mother stayed home to clean. All and all it came down to what I was really being asked; are these people Kira?

"They're not Kira," I sighed and went back to studying the apple. Kira said that gods of death loved these things. If Kira thought of himself as a death god, than he would love apples, something we could easily figure out on the surveillance. However if the letters were a ploy to mess with L, reveling his state of mind, a superiority complex, than it'd be harder to figure this out, Light didn't seem the type for this. I took a bite of the fruit as my laptop beeped at me. I lifted the lid and saw Mello frowning at me, his face a little too close to the screen.

"Ebony!" he yelled I pushed the volume button to lower his voice, the two task force members looking at me curiously. I shrugged it off and waved at the blonde anyways. I've tested their English sporadically, using the fact that I was from England to my advantage, to be honest their English wasn't the best. I sat up, still a little dizzy from my fall, it was a wonder how I was still this smart considering how many head injures I've had.

"Hi Mello!" I smiled, putting my hands out on either side of me, steadying my sense of balance. Aizawa's eyes didn't leave my figure on the ground. "What's up, and try not to make-out with the camera, you're a little too close there my friend. Also, I'd think about cleaning your nose, snot so clean place up there." I thought about teasing him more, but decided against it as he leaned back and bit out of the chocolate in his hand. I waved at Matt who was half zones out on his DS.

"Hey Eb," Matt said smiling, looking up from his DS, the screens reflecting onto his goggles. I chuckled and pointed to my eyes. Matt closed his eyes and pulled them down over his neck. "Are we interrupting anything….what did you do to get in trouble, it's only been a week." I lifted my hand and looked at the handcuff. Huh, for someone's observant today.

"Oh this thing? I might've ran away from Watari while I was on my way back to the hotel, after I pulled a prank on L and another Task Force member. No, you're not interrupting much, all I'm doing is watching people live they're lives. Nothing out of the ordinary or anything."

"No totally normal for a fourteen year old girl with a normal life to be doing," responded Matt as one of Mello's eyes half closed in serious thought. I pointed to him and the red head followed my gaze. "Alright Mel, if you start frothing at the mouth I'm getting a shotgun from Roger's office and blowing your brains out." I chuckled as Mello finally blinked and smacked Matt.

"Ebony, why did you run away from Watari, I mean I can come up with a lot of reasons but I want to hear it from the insane girl herself." Mello crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. I raised my eyebrows and smiled with my lips closed, making me seem like the insane girl I was just proclaimed to be.

"I saw a person go inside a convenience store, so I figured I'd go and say 'hi.' I'd tell you more but I'm afraid I'd get gagged, or worse duck taped. And no matter how blue you would turn Queen of that all is Chocolate, I like to talk," I smirked as Mello frowned at me, narrowing his eyes. "Also I love this new arrangement, I can make as much fun of you as I want and I'm a twelve hour plane ride away!"

"Shut-up or I'll find a quicker way to get over there and personally kick your ass." I stuck my tongue out at him as I leaned toward the screen. I put my thumb on my nose and wiggled my fingers testing the blonde before sitting back and took what he said and tried to make a comeback to it.

I looked at Mello, blinking a few times every three seconds before inhaling loudly and saying, "Well good luck with that." Mello turned a shade redder as Matt put his hand on his friend, shaking his head warning the blond to not even think about trashing his laptop. "Man, I miss you guys and everything else home came with."

"We miss you too Eb, nobody is here to delay class because of a pen squirting ink, or the chairs breaking, or the world exploding," Matt said looking back down at the aqua DS. I pointed out that I haven't tried the last one yet. "We found your prank book, there was one that had such a name. We didn't understand much other than that." I smiled, he was right. I was good a disguising my plans, go pencil smudges!

I looked up to see L slouched at the doorway I turned back toward the laptop and said that I had to go. Matt and Mello's eyes immediately went to the screen, expressions hardened. I looked at them and said I was going to be fine, that the chances of me dying at this point were slim, I was giving out aliases left and right like a master. "Besides, my real name and my alias have close to no correlation," I said confidently followed by our farewells.

"Ebony, it's time to move you into the other room. Tell me, what do you think of the Kitamura family," said L as I flipped to a new page figuring I could get started on the sketch here and move into the other room and finish it. My pencil lightly making careful lines across the page as redrew the kiss between Matt and me. I lifted my pencil to point to the screen briefly as I continued my drawing.

"To be perfectly honest, I haven't watched a minute of this. I am almost positive that Kira is a male student, and the Kitamura family has no such person. Therefore, I can only think that you, Ryuzaki want me here to gain the trust of you, Aizawa. Matsuda pretty much does, as long as I am not Kira, he is the type of person that gives everyone the benefit of the doubt." I looked up as my handcuff was unlocked from the chair and L lead me into the other room, where Sayu and Mrs. Yagami were home.

"Light left earlier this morning with lunch for his father," explained the detective as Matsuda handed me my laptop, taking the core of my apple and threw it away. I nodded my thanks as I threw myself onto the chair, sitting sideways like I always did. I turn to the TV's and cross my legs, putting my spiral on my lap, not caring if L looked at it, he'd figure out anyways. "This is the second time this week, the only other time, according to the police station was the first of the month." I nodded and continued drawing, remembering the apple, a smile spreading across my lips.

"Mr. Yagami, does Light like apples?" I asked distantly, my thoughts still on the delicious fruit. I put my index finger under my lip as I thought about this, my left hand still delicately drawing the light outline of my drawing. The older man started to protest this, standing up and demanding why I was asking about his son's fruit preferences. "I am a fruit connoisseur, and I'm curious, it's not like this will prove his guilt."

"Mr. Yagami, I see no harm in the question, please answer it," insisted L as he took a drink from the tea cup in his hand. I turned toward the detective, was he actually defending my question? I might not be hypnotized like everyone else at Whammy's, but this was pretty cool. "This won't change a thing about my suspicion of your son, she on the other hand, as you have seen is unpredictable. I can't promise you on anything." I shook my head and shifted my position so that I was sitting in the chair like a human being.

"The chances of it changing anything is extremely slim," I confirmed. "I'm just on the brink of a boredom meltdown." I started to darken the lines of the drawing, the one of Matt and me, and got an idea of an addition to add to Light's portrait. I put the pencil behind my ear and flipped back a page. I twirled the pencil in my hand as L looked over my shoulder. I started writing numbers, scattering them along the page from one to one hundred.

"Light does like apples, now will you tell me why you're asking this ridiculous question?" demanded the father. I briefly looked up and continued writing the numbers around his portrait. Our clear suspicions of Light were tearing him apart, but he said that he didn't want to leave any stone unturned. I intended to do so even if I couldn't sit still for longer than five minutes.

"I'm bored didn't I already say this?" I mumbled as I went back and darkened five numbers, I showed the teen's father the picture. "This is going to be my guilt meter, the higher the percent more dark numbers there will be, if my suspicion was to decrease, I will erase the number, the residue from the pencil will still show the number. I normally wouldn't let anyone see this, but since I'm here working with people I figured that I should at least show the two of you." I saw L nod out of the corner of my eye.

"You're really good, how did you learn to draw like that?" asked the detective in a mumble taking the spiral from my hands. I looked at him and smiled, explaining the hours spent trying to duplicate what my mind had taken pictures of over the years through my pencil.

"5%?" Mr. Yagami asked in outburst standing up interrupting the emotional part of my explanation, I swear I almost came to fake tears every time when I come to that part. I sighed and bowed my head. At this rate he is going to guilt me into keeping Light innocent, no. I am going to be me, tearing my sympathy from the calculating side of my head. I hated using this side, it sucks all of my emotion out of my words.

"Calm down, you're going to get more grey hair if you keep worrying. There's still a 95%, in my book, that says he's innocent," I shook my head closing my eyes and sighing. I lifted my head toward the screen. "The only reason I seem obsessed is because he's my only suspect. I half of me wants to prove he's innocent as fast as possible, but the other half wants him to be Kira. So far the evidence is against him though, not by much it's only by the loose ends."

"And if we're wrong?" I turned toward L, and smiled. I clasped the king around my neck, thinking about the time Near asked me why I never got angry after losing a game. I was having a bad day, I lost every game I was playing. Granted, I've just won my first game but these games were being lost worse than normal. Like it only took him fifty moves to win bad. Normally we play a good two hundred moves.

"_It's simple Near, there are always other games, and as long as there is still a piece on the board," I paused and lifted my king, holding it level with my eye, almost blocking the view of Near crouching on the rug in the game room. I smiled as I lowered the angle of my head slightly, looking at the white haired kid smiling, "I will keep playing." _

"_But that is the piece you're supposed to be protecting, and no matter where you move, you will lose the piece," he replied twirling his hair. Oh Near, you've known me for about two years and you think I'd play a desperate game against the rules, are we sure you're not delusional? Besides, if we're personifying myself as this piece, wouldn't it be even more powerful than the queen given my unpredictability?_

"_That's if you play by the rules, if I were to bend the rules, then I will be on a more level playing field with my opponent. First I'd take out the pieces closest to me." I moved my king and took three of his pieces. I held them up and tossed them aside dramatically, but gently enough to where they didn't even leave the carpeted area of the floor. "This is like hacking into a computer, minor offence but the information I gather is infinite. I will then go to a safe spot and lay low," I moved my king to a solitary position, "and wait until my opponent isn't looking for me." I turned all the pieces away from my king, smiling. I held up my finger in front of Near's face causing him to look at me with wide eyes for a brief second. I smiled as I turned back to the board. "After that I take out his ranks one by one, my methods would vary from putting him in custody to murder if the need be. This will result with him, or her, and I face to face." I put my king in front of his. Near looked over my plan and twirled his hair._

"_But you're bending the rules, that's cheating," he mumbled scanning the bored almost in disbelief. Again, putting the game in to one that reflected real life, chess rules hardly come into play. I explained that if he was a criminal he was bending the rules to begin with. "You're probably right." I leaned back and looked at the other pieces, crawling over and brought them back to the board._

"_Do you know what I'd do before that?" I asked gently with a smile. Near shook his head and blinked at me, he really looked like a child in that moment. I picked up my captured queen and held it in his face, much like I did with the king._

"We reset the board and play again. This time we might not necessarily play by the rules anymore, we would've lost a lot of time chasing Light, so we'd be on a time crunch. Also, by chasing Light we'd learn a lot about Kira, so far we know that he is intelligent, more so than a normal person, and like my pronoun suggests I think Kira is a male, as I have said before," I said as I smiled at the memory and turned toward L.

"I see," mumbled L as he took a bite out of the cake in front of him. I nodded and tugged at the restraint. I grumbled and looked at the cuff, trying to decide if I had anything on my person that could unlock myself and let my sneak off to the roof, or the indoor pool. The pool sounded more like me, and I was going to just be breaking out for the fun of it, not to escape. Totally different, uh right?

I smiled at the idea of the pool, I wouldn't bother changing my clothes, too suspicious, and it would waste the thirty seconds it would take for them to notice me-and one of the room keys- gone. I turned toward L, he took no notice of me, or so it seemed. Now, I just needed to figure out how to unlock this hunk of metal, without him noticing. Well, everyone had to pee at some point right? Now, again I needed and unlocking device, unless I wanted to bring the chair with me, but then it'd be a giveaway on my position. Then, it came to me.

"Hey L, do we have any cherries? I'm in the mood for a cherry," I said nodding with a satisfied smile. L smiled, as if he expected this. Of course he did, he's L. I was screwed. All I wanted to do was leave the hotel room to prove nobody could tie Ebony down! Huh, now that I think about it, maybe I should've used my original idea for an alias, it'd help further my point, make me sound all mysterious and borderline evil which helps in the threatening category.

"We do have cherries Ebony, but I have told everyone to keep them away from you." I looked at him appalled, me forbidden from fruit? Where's the humanity? I almost wanted to pounce on the detective and get shipped back to Whammy's house. That wouldn't be a punishment though, no I'd be forced to an Amish orphanage probably. I instead groaned in defeat, sliding off of my chair like a little kid did when they were "dying" because they were whining about something not going their way. That didn't even get him to stare at me in wonder, he was getting used to me and my antics, no this wasn't possible was it? Maybe it was, huh so maybe Matt had a point when he told me that a year ago.

"Fine! But I warn you, I'm dangerously close of being over the edge of boredom. Matsuda! Can I have another apple?" I said after I figured out that what I was doing was getting no results. I was handed my fourth apple that hour, I noted how I had very little time before the fruit was taken from me, and how I also wasn't allowed to take it anywhere with me, they didn't deny me these, probably because L wanted to see how desperate I was to rid myself of boredom. Now let me tell you in all capital letters how desperate I was; IMMENSELY.

I was thrown an apple. I casually caught it from the air and looked at the deep red skin of the fruit before biting into it, nonchalantly twisting the stem of the fruit. The idea was to break the stem off into my hand and then sneak the stem into my pocket and then wait for nature to run its course. I slipped the stem into my pocket as I sat in the chair like a normal person.

"You're not around people a lot are you?" I asked quietly as I finished off the apple and put it on the table in front of me, turning on my laptop. L tore his eyes from the screen and looked at me, his eyes shining in thought. He blinked at me as he turned back to the screen in front of us.

"Not too often, I find it easier to work by myself, this is the first time I've shown my face," he mumbled as if his pride was hurt while admitting the truth. I smiled at him reassuringly and patted him on the back, he jumped and looked at me. I blinked and tilted my head to the side, withdrawing my hand from the comforting gesture and sighed as I looked toward the wall in front of me.

"Well, look at it this way, at the rate we're going, it's going to be a while before Kira is caught. You'll be getting a lot of practice." I shifted my position, laying sideways on the chair, pulling the silver plastic card from yesterday from my pocket. I opened the internet and opened two other tabs. "I also think it'll be a good idea to see just how smart Light really is." L nodded, his thumb not leaving his lip. I looked at him through my hair, smirking evilly "Are we thinking the same thing?" I raised my eyebrows and typed in the websites, one from the chocolate magazine, a website I found a week ago that make custom puzzles, and G4TV, wanting to get a link for a gadget they recently showed on X-play, a video gaming reviewing show.

"If you're thinking I should take that test as well, then yes. We are thinking the same thing." I nodded and ordered twelve dozen boxes, twenty chocolate bars each, for Mello, $200. This would last him a while, if he only had three a day. Alright, now I am the delusional one. When Mello had "good" chocolate like this it wasn't going to last long. I closed the tab.

Before I get scolded by people who actually are paying attention to detail about how Wammy's is a "super secret" place hear me out. Matt orders half the world online, and Roger doesn't know this. How? Simple we-the three musketeers- are renting a P.O box, compiling what money we didn't use to buy half the world's video games and chocolate, and whatever random things I feel the urge to buy to pay the bill. One time, I ordered a straight jacket over the internet, oh the memories.

"I know you warned me not to spend too much, but I'm feeling generous, I'm getting something for the three I'm known to hang out with. So far, I've only ordered for the King of Chocolate. Got him 192 chocolate bars, spent $200. Our little gamer friend is getting a $200 keyboard for a new star wars game, and your white clone is getting a custom 3000 piece puzzle, only $34. That brings my total of the day to, $434. I will not be spending anymore, because I'm giving you this." I handed him the card at the end of my explanation. Guilt of not paying them back was gone! Now, I could only hope that Mello didn't burn the puzzle. Note to self: Tell Matt about the puzzle so Blondie-_Mister_ Blondie- wouldn't burn it.

L inspected the card and nodded. He stood up, as I completed my orders. Perfect, this was taking longer than a simple "hand Watari the credit card" run. I looked over my shoulder and held my wrist out, taking out the apple stem and stuck it in the cuff lock. I counted the seconds as I wiggled the stem in the lock, waiting for the click. Don't break, don't break, don't break. I smiled as the metal cuff released its grasp. I put my finger over my lips at Mr. Yagami. I cringed as my foot caught as I tried to jump over the chair. Basically belly flopping onto the floor- crap- I crawled like the mad woman I was and pulled myself up as I grabbed the room key and running out of the hotel room.

I was laughing like a mad woman, people opened their doors to look at me like I was crazy. So we didn't have the entire floor rented out, so late night parties were frowned upon, dang it. I made a note to look directly into everyone of the cameras as I passed, I wanted to see how long it would take for L to send someone after me, probably no time at all. I giggled as I took a left turn and took the stairs all the way to the 25th floor and took the elevator the rest of the way, too tired to carry on. The lobby was crowded for three o'clock in the afternoon. I weaved my way through and found the holy grail of entertainment.

"The pool," I whispered as I stuck the hotel key in the designated hole and listened to the many clicks as the door unlocked itself, letting me inside. I slowly inside, knowing that at that moment in my black t-shirt and black gym shorts, and white socks that were now wet, were getting some pretty weird stares but since when did I care? Chlorine filled the air, as shrieks of little kids rang in my ears. I shook my head and jumped in yelling out in happiness.

I surfaced the water and shook my head, the blanket of hair barely moving as the added weight from the water registered. I pulled my shirt down, as I looked at the window, nothing. I took a deep breath and went under the water, swimming to the other side of the pool, that way if task force came looking for me, I have the few precious seconds it takes for them to scan the crowd of kids. I surfaced and wiped the water out of my eyes, pushing my bangs out of my eyes.

"You don't wear clothes when you swim silly!" said a three year old, tapping me on my shoulder. It took a second to resister that she was speaking Spanish. Her wet curly hair was tangled and she was adorable! I turned around and smiled at the three year old, Her pink swim suit had a yellow tutu around the waist, her tummy poked out slightly and her eyes an expressive brown. She was innocent, the most innocent I've seen in a while. Since I was in the first orphanage since my parents died.

"I forgot my swimsuit, but my mom said I could swim in this!" I responded happily in the same language. It's amazing what reading teaches you, stay in school kids! I held my hands out as I turned to look at the door as Mr. Yagami walked in. "Shh, I'm hiding alright?" I whispered, waiting as the girl caught the urgency in my voice and nodded. I took a deep breath and went under the water. Darkness, I didn't dare open my eyes, I didn't know the chlorine content in the water. I learned the hard way, like most of the time, that chlorine and eyes don't mix.

I felt an urgent tap on my head. I surfaced and gasped for air, task force was gone. I looked at the girl, my breathing still heavy as I leaned back and closed my eyes. "They're gone!" declared the girl bouncing up and down. I nodded. "What's your name? I'm Stephani."

"I'm Ebony," I answered as I floated on my back, feeling safe, until I felt someone tap my forehead. I stood up in the water and turned around my head picking out the files it had on fighting. I sighed and lowered my fists as I saw L crouching on the side of the pool. "Why hello my dearest cousin!" I smiled devilishly as I grabbed L's hand, jumped underwater, and used the wall to propel me forward. I inhaled water as I heard the detective fall into the water. I coughed as I stood up again, L was soaked. I coughed out laugher as L lifted his arms out the baggy shirt looking like wings hanging off of his arms.

"Ebony, I find your behavior to be completely obnoxious, can we please go back to the room, and change," asked L standing, clearly uncomfortable in the wet clothes, his voice a little less monotone than normal it was angered, shocked. Yeah, I'm toast. No, I was toast when I ran out of the fancy black car, I was….cake. Yeah, I was cake and L is obsessed with that stuff. I swam to the side and helped the detective out of the pool. He wasted no time of grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of the pool room.

"Bye Stephani!" I waved and giggled as we left. I tried starting conversation, but the black haired man that I was being pulled through the hotel by wasn't a happy camper. Needless to say, I wasn't going to be talking to him anytime soon. I was dragged to the elevator, no towel, just the two of us dripping wet. "And this is why Roger was happy that I was leaving. I always disobeyed, got out of punishment, made Mello mad for the fun of it, and pulled pranks." I numbered these off on my free hand and turned toward the detective. Nope, my perky voice wasn't having any effect on him. Can't blame a girl for trying can you?

"I see, so your saying that you require time to move around?" he asked trying to understand me. This genuinely shocked me. I blinked for a few moments, was it freedom what I needed? I shook my head slowly, bowing my head. This is something Roger never did. I mean, he knew that we were all different and tried to accommodate us the best he could, but some people-like me-he gave up on.

"Not really, more like I need something to occupy my mind, I only act out when I get insanely bored. I'll try to occupy myself the best I can, but I think I can vouch for myself that based on my actions I was way past self amusement."

"That you have Ebony." The elevator door opened, I looked at L as he walked through the hall. He was testing me again. My hand found its way into my pocket, as the other grabbed the raven-haired man. I held my wet key to the detective and smiled as he gingerly took it in two fingers and unlocked the door. We both walked in, Mogi and Aizawa were waiting inside, turning as we walked in, their eyes widening as they saw two soaking wet people.

"What happened?" asked the man with the mini-afro. I walked over toward him and shook off the water that was still dripping from my clothes and hair like a wet dog. I smiled as the policeman scowled, me skipping toward my room to change, L explaining how I was found in the pool down stairs. I walked out in another pair of athletic shorts and a t-shirt with vampire fangs saying "bite me" across the chest. L had changed while I was, and it didn't surprise me he was already done.

I walked over and crouched in the chair, mirroring him and his crouch. Weird sitting mojo activate! He handed me my laptop, a packet of paper, and a pen. I flipped through the pages and found out they were all names. I scratched my head above my eyebrow and read over the names, not just flipping through haphazardly. "They're all dead. Criminals killed by Kira I assume?" I mumbled. I turned my head and met L's eyes as he nodded. Criminals, that word and its essence hit me home in a way, a life I wished I could forget but couldn't.

"Will this suffice in keeping you occupied?" I nodded and opened my laptop, opening a web browser and opened a second tab for music. I stood up and jumped off of my chair, and skipped to the kitchen. I pulled the largest bowl I could find and fill it up with pineapple, cherries, pomegranate, and mango. I skipped back to my chair and balanced the bowl on the armrest. I then walked into the room in the suite for me and grabbed my earbuds. I crouched back on the seat and started searching names on the internet.

I barely looked up as the rest of Task Force returned from the wild Ebony chase. I copied L more so as I thoughtfully put my thumbnail in my mouth, lightly biting on it. Rapist, murderer, rapist, rapist, petty thief, murderer, gang member, murderer, capital murderer, the names on the list each got their respectful title of the crime they had committed. Every time I saw the words "gang member" I died a little, figuratively. "He seems to be focusing on murderers and rapists, thieves and simple gang members are thrown in there to imply that all criminals aren't safe, and child molesters are the third most common. Ironic when you think about it," I said sticking a cherry in my mouth, smiling as I enjoyed the burst of flavor in my mouth.

"What do you mean?" asked Matsuda walking in. I smiled at the young police man and explained the irony, Kira, a murderer focusing on killing fellow murderers. He looked at me and tilted his head as this soaked in. Still nothing, really Matsuda?

"He's being a hypocrite," growled Ukita. L and I both nodded as we turned back and continued to watch the Yagami family, Light still hadn't returned, something was wrong, even with errands he should've been home. I mean, I went swimming for Pete's sake. What was he up to?

* * *

**So I wrote this having no idea with what Light was doing so have fun with making it up, really I don't care, though for my own sanity's sake he could be walking in the park. I also like the pool scene it was fun to write. I also like the next chapter :3 **

**Thanks for all of those who have favorited, alerted, or simply has read this story. Now, for review responses! **

**To: I got Mugged by a Penguin: **

_**Pie:**__ I like how you texted me a list of complaints and then add your own twist to the public response._

_**Ebony:**__ *Reads comment* Pie…are you hiding something from us?_

_**Pie: **__-.- Ebony, you live in my head why don't you just look it up for yourself._

_**Ebony: **__Oh yeah….*starts throwing random books around*_

_**Pie:**__ HEY gentle, that's my head your messing with there!_

_**Ebony:**__ And?_

_**Pie:**__ I could kill you in print which is your life and you know this right *raises pen threateningly*_

_**Ebony: **__ O.O I'm sorry! Please forgive me master! *grovels* Oh look the book I was looking for._

_**Pie: **__I actually liked the groveling :( _

_**Ebony:**__ …She's straight, so there for Miss "Mugged by a Penguin" if that's your real name- and I know it's not- the "history" you speak of is nonexistent!_

_**Pie: **__I win :P_

**To: Kashgal and Natures Ruler: **

_**Ebony: **__HELP ME! *runs with arms stretched out sandwich in left hand*_

_**Pie:**__ You took the sandwich and ran, not our problem._

_**Mello:**__ This is really entertaining. Don't worry about hurting her, please tie her up and let me hit her a few times._

_**Ebony:**__ *glares at Mello for brief second* Shut-up booger boy! Or I'll tell them about that thing!_

_**Mello: **__You wouldn't!_

_**Ebony: **__I would._

_**Pie: **__*looks at Matt* what thing are they talking about?_

_**Matt: **__*shrugs* I dunno, could be something stupid could be something that he should actually worry about *mashes buttons on play station controller*It doesn't really involve me at this moment so I'm only half paying-NO! LIVE LINK LIVE!_

_**Ebony: **__It's the serious one, or at least I think it is…*stops and thinks and then remembers the sandwich* CRAP! *starts running again*Oh and Mello I stole most of your chocolate again._

_**Mello: **__EBONY! *joins chase*_

_**Pie: **__Are they always like this? *Matt nods* Oh…popcorn anyone?_


	8. Chapter 8 January 13th

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. Ebony is my character though. **

**Alright guys, I'm going to warn you here, and reiterate it after the chapter; the tone of this chapter is totally different from the previous 7, but it's needed to get a better understanding of the character. If you don't like the chapter, that's your opinion and I respect it. **

**Chapter Eight January 13th **

I had one foot on top of the bed, my other leg's calf resting on the knee. Sleeping was out of the question tonight, always is on this day of the year. It was the same story every year, same nightmare, and the same sweat drench awakening. I couldn't stand it, years ago I gave up trying to sleep. I clenched my hands into fists and locked my jaw. Not this year, I wasn't going to fall asleep, I couldn't, wouldn't. I wouldn't feel weak, I wouldn't give into my body's basic needs, I needed to forget, but I couldn't.

I turned my head toward the alarm clock, relaxing slightly, it was about 1:05 in the morning. Yup. Like every year, it was going to be a long night. I sat up and looked toward the window, moonlight spilling through the curtains. Normally Matt would be helping to keep me awake, I tried solo one year. Didn't work to well, woke up the chocolate princess, Matt and Roger, though I was sure there were others. I felt my stomach rumble. I looked down and patted my stomach, I might be exhausting myself, but that doesn't mean I should neglect the other basic needs of human life. I scooted off of the tower of a bed, wobbling on my feet slightly as I numbly walked into the other room.

"It's late, you should get some sleep," L mumbled watching me as I sat across from him picking at the leftovers with chopsticks, crossing my legs on the couch, putting the take-out on my lap. I gave him a slight smile, hypocrite. I looked up briefly almost refusing to blink. I looked at my watch and then calculated the time it would be in my home town. It was the anniversary in about five minutes and three…two… seconds. Bang….bang…..bag. The deed was done.

"Couldn't sleep, thought I'd come here and talk to you. I mean if we're going to be working together we might as well get to know each other without Task Force breathing down our necks." I raised my eyebrows slightly at this as I stuck a bite of sushi in my mouth trying to hide my sadness behind a fake smile. My voice mirrored the detective's monotone, I knew he could tell that there was something wrong, I couldn't be more obvious.

"I see, does this occur often." I shrugged and put the take out on the table. I then explained that normally I had to force myself to bed, but I blamed it on my sleeping habits during the day as the cause of this. I've been having similar issues here even though I don't sleep a wink during the day. I still managed to get enough to prevent dark circles under my eye, but I had a feeling the more engrossed in this case I was going to get, the more like L I was going to resemble.

"I guess sleep doesn't like me until I'm bored out of my mind," I said forcing another smile, my head playing me the worst memory I had. That one memory that you never want to repeat to anyone, not even your best friend, yeah that's the memory I'm talking about. I hated this date; I wish I could forget it.

Unfortunately, I couldn't no matter how hard I tried to replace the memory. The good ones masked my inner turmoil, they hid my pain. It was covered up by my happy-go-lucky nature, it wasn't fake I am normally like that, but I had to push it out sometimes. Tonight the saddened, depressed interior wanted out, and it being this date I couldn't stop it.

"Ebony, may I ask you a question?" I paused and turned toward the tired looking detective and smiled, letting out a quiet giggle.

"You just did. But that isn't the question, go ahead ask away Ryuzaki," I took up the food again and ate another bite, looking into the cardboard container and counted the bites I had left. I didn't necessarily like the darkened room, but it was better than being blinded. The images in my mind were still just as horrid in the light though.

"You repeatedly said that you had no interest in being my successor, I would like to know why." I bit the inside of my lip, putting the chosticks in the container that held the sushi, putting it back on the table, and hugged my knees. I knew this question was going to be brought up, but I wasn't expecting it this early, or on this day. I was determined though, L seemed like someone who didn't trust people easily, and I was going to earn it before this case was over.

"That's a tough question, and I have many answers to it. The first one is simple, I don't like doing the same thing every day and I knew that is what this job requires, that and it takes a lot to spark my interests. I am not driven by justice, I'm driven by what gets me out of the eternal pit of boredom.

"Second reason is because of my friends, Near, even though he seems disinterested respects you and wants to be your successor, and I don't think Mello could be more obvious of his goals and how far he would go with them. It crushed them both, even though they didn't show it when you called and offered to let me work with you. Mello and Near gave me no answer when I looked at them, it was Matt that helped me decide.

"The third reason why is because I would feel compelled to tell everyone I learn to trust my real name. I know we were told to forget our past, but 23% of us have seen our parents murdered before our eyes, and 10% of those have a photographic memory, and couldn't forget it if we tried." I clenched my fists and turned away from the detective, my jaw locking. I have cried many times on this day over the years, almost every time this day passed. Why….why couldn't I just forget just like a normal person? "We have secretly altered that rule, only tell those you trust with your life, and even then it's only our names that are exchanged." I looked peeked at him through my hair, running my left hand through it as I turned toward the windows, moonlight streaming through the drawn curtains.

"I assume Matt, Mello, and Near know your real name?" asked the detective. I nodded and smiled at the memories that associated with the three of them. I stopped hugging my knees, sitting like a normal person as I stared off into the distance, a small smile still placed on my face. I was happy for this distraction, really I was. The pain was just so hard to relive year after year. Each time it seemed to reopen old wounds, making them deeper. They say time heals, but it's doing bup-kiss for me right now.

"You're hoping to gain my trust aren't you?" L asked slowly after watching me smile at the memories I had made at Wammy's. I simply nodded at this and scratched the back of my head shyly, throwing my number out there, 32% chance he was going to tell me. "That's actually pretty accurate, you understand the importance of keeping your identity a secret, but I have never told anyone my real name, only myself and Watari know it." I shrugged I expected nothing less, his identity his business. I might have close to no problem telling those I truly trust my name, but my past is mine. Even Mello and Near didn't know why I hated January 13th with a passion.

"It's your name, your business, your past. If you don't want to share I understand, I won't pester you about it. Mainly because my past has only been shared once, I've done all I could to forget it." I looked at my socked feet and turned toward L thinking about something that would help our kindling friendship. "Want to play a game of checkers, or chess? It's almost pointless to go to sleep now, and if I need to I'm sure I'll fall asleep on my own while we try to come up with another game plan. I mean, surveillance did nothing for us." L frowned slightly, the reminder of the fact surveillance had been taken down.

"Chess is fine. You and Near play regularly scheduled games correct?" I nodded as I asked if he had a game board, or if we would have to use the one I had on the computer. "The computer, you're using the program to continue your tradition I've seen it a few times." I nodded as I stood up and got my laptop crouching next to the detective as he pushed his Dell away, making room for my laptop. I decided to completely detour my thoughts I was going to have to play like I meant to win, and I hated playing that way.

"White or black?" I asked as I let the computer turn on. L bit his nail and shrugged. I smiled slightly, this is how the first game Near and I played, I took black for the simple reasoning of what we were wearing, but even though my wardrobe still contained mostly black clothes, the circumstances were still entirely different. I launched the program and made a game for L and I to play in. I put my hands on my knees and looked at the detective waiting for him to make his move.

He clicked on one of the pawns and moved it forward, it was two from the right side of the bored. I nodded and smiled, as I moved the pawn directly in front of the other pawn. "If you play like that it's easy to plan your demise," pointed out the detective in the monotone he always used. I turned my head toward him and scoffed as I shook my head, turning back to the game.

"But this is how you start a case no? Try to figure out how the perp thinks and then you figure out how to defeat him. It took about a hundred games for Near to figure out my weakness and 79 for me to figure out Near's, I still try to beat him without exploiting it." L furrowed his brow slightly but nodded as he moved his knight. I moved another pawn, I hated those pieces, they're nothing but annoying pieces that get in the way. I smirked when he took my pawn, thank god one down and all I had to do as take some of his off of the board. "I hate the pawn, it's the second most powerless piece."

"But the king determines who wins and who loses," mumbled L as he moved another pawn, to be taken away by mine. "But I have to agree there are too many pawns to begin with, you only need four." I nodded in agreement and moved a bishop. "Would you like some cake?" I paused and looked at the messy hair of L.

"You mean you are willing to share your strawberry short cake?" I asked in disbelief, my eyes wide. L paused and tilted his head to the side. This was monumental people, someone was sharing cake. I mean sure, people share cake all the time, but you don't see me parading offering everyone an apple do you? No, this was someone that nobody would even consider him to be sharing was being offered to me in a pleasant manner.

"I suppose I am. I do request that you don't eat it all though, it's my favorite, and could you get me a slice too?" I smiled and nodded, taking my turn before walking into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and cut two slices from it. I paused and looked at my reflection in the frosting covered knife. I looked like crap, and even though I tried to hide it, I still looked sad about something.

"Pawn to D4," called L quietly, as to not wake Watari. I cut the cake and put it on plates, getting forks, calling out pawn to E6 after seeing the altered chess board in my mind. I captured a pawn. "You have something on your mind," mumbled the detective as if I lowered the knife and with a slight frown cut the cake.

"I suppose I do Ryuzaki. Wanna know something? I really hate my memory. Looking past the cool 'never forgetting' aspect you really see how lucky people who forget are. I mean time heals wounds but not me. I'm forced to remember." I felt L's eyes on me as I refused to look at him, studying the icing on the cake instead. To put it simply, he didn't know how to deal with my ragged emotions, and I really didn't know either.

"….would you like to talk about it?" I shook my head as I forced my eyes to stay open, tonight was the night, the anniversary of my family's murder. Everyone, dead killed in cold blood. I was the only survivor, and nobody could take me in. I was truly alone. I promised myself that night to keep closed off, to not make any friends. I was truly broken. I broke my promise to myself though, did that make me a liar? Personally I didn't care, if I hadn't opened up, knowing how I hate boredom I probably would've blown something up. I stared off into space as a single tear rolled down my face. That was tear number 685 I've shed over this incident.

_I was five, it was a stormy cool mid-January night. I was eating a bowl of dry cheerios, it was still a couple of hours before bed and I was hungry. My high, perky care-free voice was heard telling my real mother about the rain I had been playing in, my hair was still wet from my fun. I had seen exactly 402 raindrops, catching 43 on my tongue. My mom's eyes matching my own crystal like blue as she smiled, her blonde hair framing her face suggesting a friendly aura, she bent down and hugged me, holding on for exactly 5.2 seconds._

_My sister cried out, her emerald eyes pleading in jealousy. I giggled three times and bent down hugging my four year, four month, two week, and five day year old sister for 10.5 seconds before she told me to let go, me tickling her for five seconds. My dad walked in, stiffly his eyes showing fear, regret, sorrow. That was the first sign something bad was going to happen, five year old me even knew this much. My smile melted off of my face. _

_In a way I blamed my dad, he brought us into this mess. It was his choices that ended his life, but I was five. I hadn't learned of my father's past until years later. I couldn't admit this out loud though. It wasn't in me to do so. I didn't blame me, I couldn't. That five year old kid didn't understand anything until she heard the gunshots and went to check on her family as the cops came. _

"_What's wrong daddy?" I had asked innocently. He bent down and picked up my sister. I felt my eyes widen as I was half-dragged deep into the house being lead by my mom. She pushed me to my hands and knees and with tears streaming down her face told me ten times that she loved me. I was pushed under the bed and to not come out until the police came. I was under there for exactly three minutes and 47 seconds until the door was slammed open. I counted the gunshots, three. I started to try to comfort myself the only way I knew back then. I started counting. _

_Numbers were comfort to me, I gave up counting after this though but my love of math was still there. My need to put chance into terms depicting a percent was still there. That never changed, but I don't go around mumbling numbers, counting every single thing I saw, not like I did._

"_There's supposed to be another one, where the hell is she?" I clenched my eyes shut as I counted for thirty minutes, their heavy footsteps echoing through the hall, there were five of them. I ran my hands through my hair, my fingers bent like claws tangling themselves into the ebony mess. I realized I was alone, then it donned on me as the tears threatened to come. Out of all the people in Los Angeles there was a 5% chance that my family would've been a target, but because my dad worked with a gang the percentage went up to 76._

_I hated this part of my dream, mainly because I see it through another set of eyes. I see myself trembling, understanding what had happened and thinking that I was next. I couldn't comfort myself, I've tried didn't work. I tried to save my parents, and somehow dream me then sees the murder for herself, making the hopeless look in her eyes more hollow than it was while I simply hid. _

_I heard police sirens, the men then climbed over one another, by the sound of it, to leave my house before they were busted. I rolled out from under the bed numbly and walked into the living room, sliding down to my knees as I saw my mom with a bullet wound in the head, my sister and father had ones in the chest. I crawled to my mom's corpse and held her cold hand, crying the first of hundreds of tears._

_While under the bed, I had called the police from a cordless phone we had lost and was then found and I was ushered to the station, and then into a normal orphanage. I stayed there until I was about 9 before Watari came by and gave the entire orphanage a test. I apparently passed because the next thing I knew I was being ushered to an airport and onto a plane to go to England. _

"Ebony, are you alright?" asked L, cautiously putting his hand on my arm. I shot my head toward him and his eyes looked into mine. My head was pounding in the same rhythm as my heart, another tear spilled over from my other eye as my entire body tensed. Not again. "Your frightened….This is the anniversary of your family's untimely death."

"It wasn't untimely, it was expected, there was a 76% chance we would've been attacked. I hid while my parents and sister were murdered. I make sure to pull an all-nighter on this night every year because when I go to sleep I relive their death, every detail freshened into my memory." I hugged my knees as I made my move.

"I'm sorry about what happened. Wasn't it you who called the police?" I nodded, wanting to shake my head at his apology. What was there to be sorry about? It wasn't like he could've prevented it. Gangs were one of the leading causes of death in LA. As bad as it seems I was happy to be an orphan in a way. It shaped me into the person I was.

"It wasn't your fault, gangs run rampant in LA. When I went to Wammy's I was placed fifth, I missed only one question, I like to stand out so I started flunking on purpose. I had already figured out that people were put in classes according to their rank, I never was moved down. I think it was Watari's influence." I captured L's knight casually as Watari walked in sleepily, pausing to see the two of us before proceeding into the bathroom. "I chose Ebony because of the color of ravens."

"I see, Ebony suits you. It's not depressing like black and onyx. It has a friendly relaxing quality to it." I smirked and nudged the detective gently, if he was trying to cheer me up it was almost working. "Are you sure you don't want to attempt to go to sleep?" I shook my head, normally Matt and I would have an all night gaming marathon, it wouldn't matter the nightmare would still come.

"Thanks Ryuzaki," I said smiling as I realized I have only known him for half a month, but I already trusted him enough to consider telling him about my parent's death. Then again, nobody at the orphanage outside of my circle of friends knew about my memory, I mean I pretty much did everything I could to hide it. "It sucks, though not forgetting."

"But this can also be used to our advantage. In the unlikely even I should die, you would have all the information and Kira would still be caught." I turned toward L, was be really talking about this now? Even at this point and time I could honestly say that if L were to die, I wouldn't be able to sleep for a while, let alone work on the case.

"Not until some time passes. I wouldn't be able to function like a normal human being for a good while. After my parents died I isolated myself for a year. I didn't talk to anyone. I was nobody special in that orphanage, and I'm happy I wasn't. If people remembered me we'd have a problem." I looked at the prongs on my fork as they glistened by the light of the laptop.

"That we would, you were so low-key that we didn't have to worry about sending anyone there to convince everyone you didn't exist." I shrugged, and moved a rook across the board just to move it there. I picked up the ends of my hair and looked at them.

"I opened up to one person, though knowing her she probably forgot me already. I recovered slightly in a year, talked to her for a while. Matt and Mello completely brought me out of my shell, then I went to work on Near. Everyone needs a friend." I saw L look at me and stuck his thumb in his mouth in thought.

"Friendship…"he whispered clearly to himself. I shrugged it off and took a bite of the cake, my eyes widening as the flavors exploded on my tongue. I blinked and lifted the plate to my eyes and tried to see if I saw magical sparkles. There were none, who was the wizard that crafted this treat, it was awesome!

"This is good cake," I paused and chewed the bite. "I see why it's your thinkin' food." I took another bite and moved my piece on the virtual game board. L almost smiled, the muscles around his lips twitched. He wasn't bad, just isolated, and alone. He needed a friend, and even though the chances of me learning his name were slim, the chances of friendship were much higher.

"You know even if you don't tell me your name I am going to find a way to keep contact with you, as a friend. I'll even settle for the weird synthesized voice coming from my computer." I didn't meet L's eyes as he again turned toward me and tried to assess what made me, well me.

We stayed like that all night, playing the same game for three hours before Watari walked in and asked if we were hungry. He noticed the stacked plates and the crowning take out container on the four plates, we wanted pie. I smiled and asked for donuts, turning back as I contemplated about my turn on our game of chess. I could move my queen, take his last bishop leaving him with only a knight, his queen, and a rook, but it would leave my last knight open, and from what Near said, my game goes south from there. I took the knight, my queen was safe. I went ahead and took the bishop.

L looked at me and took my knight, leaving me with my queen and rook for defense. "You were protecting that piece weren't you?" I nodded and claimed the rook used to take my knight, putting it in the virtual graveyard, looking at my watch, still fast asleep, lucky. On the bright side, I had the upper hand.

"Near said that my game drops 45% once I lose both knights," I mumbled as Watari handed both of us a donut. I smiled and took a bite out of it, letting the sugary goodness fill my stomach and wake me up, I was going to need that nap. Watari smiled at the two of us and sat down on the couch as L moved is knight out of the path of my queen. Two hours and thirty minutes and I think we are almost done.

"I hope you realize, I have every intention of winning," L said quietly. I turned and looked at him through my hair, letting a smile spread across my face as I moved my rook, capturing his queen, leaving his knight with no other choice but to capture the piece, and his king was in check. Was L actually worried about losing to little me? No, I believe he was trying to convince me that I was better off declaring defeat. Not gonna happen. He went ahead and moved his king up one square.

"I know, and if you said this to psyche me out, it's not working," I replied as I put my queen out of the path of his knight. L smirked and moved this piece in front of my king. I sat back smiling, that fatal move, I had no moves, checkmate. "Good game, took us over two hours to play it." I ran my hand through my hair as I closed the program, looking at my watch counting down from thirty as I picked up the plates and take out container, throwing it away and putting the plates in the sink. If someone was going to wake up feeling guilty he should be realizing it…now.

I sat back down in my chair, my legs crossed off on the armrest, my laptop warming my stomach as I answered Matt's Skype call. He saw the sleepy look in my eye and smiled sadly, he remembered. "Sorry, I wasn't sure if you were awake and I-" I held up my hand and smiled as I shook my head.

"Don't worry, I was fine. I'm going to take a nap today more and-likely if not I'll be going to bed at the same time Near is. Are you on your iPod?" I asked as I noticed the background moving, slowly becoming the prison that I was very familiar with. Matt smiled and nodded. It was still dark over there. Don't tell me he had to pee, gross. I heard a knock on the door as I put the pieces together, was Mello awake too?

"So, how did you stay up all night?" I explained the chess game, and how L was an insomniac, that it was actually pretty easy considering the circumstances. "And you lost, no shock there. Did you try?" I tilted my head and said at first. I then pointed out how bad this looked, visiting Mello in the middle of the night. "Shut-up it's not like that."

"Really? Are you sure?" Matt raised an annoyed eyebrow. I leaned back and chuckled slightly, deciding to quick playing games. "So how far have you gotten on the Kira case?" Matt's eyes widened slightly at how quickly I came to the conclusion. Mello wanted to solve it before Near and Matt just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to die. I knew my friends what could I say.

"Matt get your ass over here!" I heard Mello call behind the door. I smiled; someone was in a good mood. I saw the redhead turn his head and saw the furious blonde stomping over and snatching the iPod. I let out a small giggle, it was going to be a while before we could actually talk again, wish I had popcorn. Popcorn shrimp was always good too, especially with apple sauce, don't knock it until you try it. Though, I use apple sauce like ketchup.

"Mello, what do you want, and give me that back!" I smirked as the picture was a disorientating mash of walls and people. I heard Matt say more complaints of being robbed, the image stopped it's disorientating circular jerky movement as Mello stopped, and pointed the device toward the kid. I waved as Matt took the iPod, smirking as Mello started yelling at him.

"You know what? I don't give a shit! I need his help with something, we're going to help Ebony dammit." I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair and sighed. It was sweet that he wanted to help, but I didn't need it. He of all people should know how independent I am, I don't accept help willingly, but I will if I see no other way I can do something.

I smiled as I saw the unplugged jack of Matt's earbuds, the click of the door heard. "Mello could you have make my screen look more disoriented? I almost puked," I said in false unhappiness. The two of them turned toward the screen, it was as if I had never left. I looked at my watch again, and then remembered it was still set to England time. I looked up from it, pausing to shake my head at myself and look at the clock on the computer. "Hey I gotta go take a shower, I'll call you when I can."

"Bye Ebs," said Matt after Mello stormed off, and sat at his computer chair and started moving the mouse around. Alright, what has his panties in a bunch? I saw the screen go black, signaling the call had ended. I closed the lid of the laptop and plugged the charger into it after I walked into "my" room. I walked into my bathroom and took a long shower, almost falling asleep five times.

I grumbled as I stepped out of the shower and put a panda t-shirt on and jeans, walking out if my room to see Task Force was already there. "Morning," I said with a wave, walking to the couch and flopped on there, laying on my stomach as files of dead people were being brought in.

"Good morning Ebony," said Matsuda. I yawned as his happy smile vanished when he saw the bags under my eyes. "Did you not sleep well?"

"I didn't sleep at all, personal reasons. I hope you can understand why I don't want to tell you. Ryuzaki doesn't even know the details." Matsuda nodded and left, leaving me to wonder what he was doing, his eyes lightened up he probably had an idea. I turned my head and followed him with my eyes as I was handed a stack of files. I really didn't want to read right now. I opened one and laid it on my face, closing my eyes knowing that even though it was a new day the chances of that nightmare showing itself was about 43%.

"Here you go," said Matsuda happily handing me a coffee mug. I looked at the black liquid and the cubed of sugar in a bowl with a small pitcher of crème. I never had coffee, don't know why, but if L put half the world's sugar in his cup, and Roger drinks his close to black, I assumed that it was better sweet.

"You're giving her coffee? Do you remember how hard it was to get her back here yesterday?" asked Aizawa. I shrugged and put three cubes of sugar and half the pitcher of crème, stirring the liquid. The black coffee turned a light brown before I tested the coffee, making sure it wasn't too bitter. I shrugged and rubbed my eye with the back of my hand.

"I ran off because I was bored, right now I'm tired. The only place I'll be running to is dreamland when my caffeine buzz wears off, that's why I'm on something that won't give me back problems," I said with a yawn. "Thank you for the coffee Matusda." I chugged the mug down, yawning again as I rubbed my eye with the back of my hand.

* * *

**I love the next chapter, so far it's my favorite chapter of the entire story. It's called "Coffee" and I'll let your imagination roam on what our favorite hyper "detective" in training will be doing then XD. It's only a couple of hours lapse between the two chapters.**

**I know this wasn't very funny, but this is essential to her character and what will happen in future chapters blah blah blah. It adds depth to her alright! **

**Thanks for everyone who has alerted, favorited, reviewed, or simply read this story. Now, reviewer responses!**

**To Nizuna Fujieda:**

_**Pie: **__Ha, then you're going to LOOVVEE the next chapter, it hardly makes sense to me, and I wrote it._

_**Ebony:**__ This is why you're the Editing Nazi and refuse to let a chapter come out without editing it three times._

_**Pie:**__ Would you rather me not be a Nazi about it and have L beat you with a ghost queen?_

_**Ebony:**__ Yes, because that would be epic, seeing how his queen was mine. MINE I SAY! *evil laugh*_

_**Pie:**__ Calm down, it was only chess._

_**Ebony:**__ I know…_

_**Pie: **__Alrighty then_

**To Kashgal and Natures Lover: **

_**Ebony:**__ *stops running* Thank god! I thought I was going to have to trip someone. Hang in there Mells! *Waves as she hides sandwich behind her back* (to herself) Now, where to hide you… *smiles and sets rope trap*_

_**Mello: **__Can't…..breathe….slowly….dying…_

_**Ebony:**__ Ahh don't be a cry baby!_

_**Pie: **__ Hey Eb, seeing how he can't kill you what is this "thing?"_

_**Ebony:**__ Oh yeah! It was only a empty chocolate wrapper. *holds up proudly*_

_**Matt:**__ Why did I expect something embarrassing? I should know by now._

_**Mello: **__*turns red with rage and struggles within Kashgal's grip* Let me go you bitch!...I'll give you a sandwich Hell. _

_**Pie:**__ Can't you guys feel the love? Anyway to answer your question about Fullmetal Alchemist, I watch Brotherhood and I love it! :3 Ed's I love random questions like that! :D_

**To Chocoholics Unite:**

_**Pie:**__ Can't be insane all the time…unless you're really insane then I think that being in that state of mind is possible. _

_**Ebony:**__ And doesn't everyone want to be in the pool scene? Just to take a picture?_

_**Mello: **__I didn't, mainly because I'd be the next one in._

_**Ebony: **__Maybe….*shifty eyes*_

_**Mello:**__ Don't worry your stupidity the next chapter will make up for it_

_**Ebony: **__ I am not stupid! I managed to put a pressure sensor in the wall without anyone noticing. That takes skill_

_**Matt:**__ Mello, could you be nice to her for one day? If you just ignore her she gets more annoying yes, but she eventually backs away._

_**Ebony:**__ I'm still here ya know_

_**Matt: **__ Really? I thought you had actually gotten ninja powers._

_**Pie: **__NO! I am the ninja here._

_**Ebony:**__ She has spoken, I'm too clumsy anyways. _

_**Pie:**__ I'm no better_

_**Mello:**__ Then why do you call yourself a ninja, it seems redundant._

_**Pie:**__…..*thinks* I'm so incognito I act clumsy. _

_**Everyone but Pie:**__ *face palm*_

_**Pie: **__What?_

**To ElektrikNightmare:**

_**Pie: **__I LOVE YOUR REVIEW!_

_**Ebony:**__ Really? You're going to respond that way?_

_**Pie: **__Well…yeah_

_**Ebony: **__… _

_**Pie:**__ What?_

_**Ebony:**__ Oh nothing._

_**Pie:**__ Alrighty then…You know sometimes I would like some encouragement!_

_**Ebony:**__ Oh gracious creator I love you and everything you've done for me…..happy?_

_**Pie:**__ Yes…yes I am :D_


	9. Chapter 9 Coffee!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, or any other copyrighted material referenced. Ebony is mine however.**

**Chapter Nine Coffee**

"Guys, I can see the LIGHT!" I yelled throwing my hands up falling backwards, two of my four empty coffee cups crashing into the floor. I looked at the broken pieces and then remembered that the magical elixir of coffee was in them. That reminded me about something. "MATSUDA! I NEED MORE COFFEE!" I yelled at the top of my lungs giggling like a five year old who has had too much sugar. I waved around the broken handle of one of the mugs, I couldn't say I was sorry, I was laughing too hard. I barely comprehended the denial for the elixir of the tired from the young police man as I jumped up and crouched on the couch next to Aizawa. I kicked my feet against the couch, sitting still was like not breathing at this point.

"Matsuda, why did you give her four cups?" complained the older man as I felt my wide eyes grow wider. He turned toward me and raised his eyebrow fear showing in his eyes. I leaned forward, totally disregarding personal space and looked at his unhappy, little peeved expression. It wasn't my fault I was hyper was it? I don't think so, in fact Matsuda, I blame you. It was your idea to give me coffee in the first place. He also supplied cups two, three, and four he could've said no am I right?

"Mr. Aizawa, your afro is so….AWESOME!" I started smooshing it over and over, waiting until it popped back up, then I'd squeal, wiggle around as my stomach fluttered happily, and repeated the process. The police man's eye twitched in annoyance as I heard L mumble from the other room. My head spun around as I jumped off of the couch and ran into the other room, my arms flailing around like a mad-woman. "L oh L! I love coffee! Did you know how awesome coffee is when you're tired?" I asked jumping on the couch smiling as his head moved up and down in sync with my bounces. He sighed and leaned forward to look around me. I was honestly surprised he hadn't said anything about me calling him L, I guess the fact I was talking so fast my words were slurring together made my action forgivable, I still thought as that man as L in my head so of course that's what came out of my not-so-sober mouth.

"Mogi, would you please restrain Ms. Ebony?" asked L looking back at the file he had in his hands. Now, I'm no expert but I think it was in English, who knows. I stopped bouncing appalled. How dare he try to restrain the coffee queen! I won't stand, bounce, sit, walk, run, or tolerate this in anyway shape or form. I will remain free! Mogi put down the papers he was looking at and cautiously made his way to the couch. His hands were held out in a comforting gesture, like I was a wild animal he was trying to catch. I narrowed my eyes and raised my chin up at the challenge. It's on like Donkey Kong. Speaking of the game, it's a good one, classic!

"Catch me if you can copper!" I yelled jumping over the chair and landing delicately, what I don't always face plant when I jump around like a freaking ninja. I ran around him before he could react, stopping to bark like a Chihuahua a little hop added like I really was the animal in question. He turned around looking at me with wide eyes, I just smiled and stuck my tongue out at him. I turned and went into my room, locking the door as he chased me. I laughed evilly as I looked around the room, there had to be a window or some secret passage, to the bookcase. My body shook, I wasn't sure whether it was from the coffee or because Mogi was pounding at the door, actually talking asking me to leave the room. "Never! For I am Kira and your time is limited….just lemme find my escape route and you will be kicking daisies!" I frowned and scanned the mess that was my hotel room, desperation starting to bubble. The mess was clothes I hadn't bothered to throw in my suit case because of the late nights, but nobody said I was "neat" person to begin with. Back at the orphanage there was a path from the door to my bed, that's it. Must. Get. Back. On. Topic. What, about an air vent? Nahh to obvious. Unfortunately my secret passageway plan was also trashed, there was no bookcase.

"Ryuzaki, should what Ebony is saying be taken serious?" I heard Mr. Yagami yell over Aizawa and Matsuda pleading for me to open the door. Really? I say something completely crazy during a hyper rampage and that's when they decide to take me seriously? Are you freaking kidding me? NO, I EBONY KAGE (complete alias, no sliver of my real name detected, genius I know) AM NOT KIRA! Sometimes I wonder about this generation, and a few before this. I can't exactly call Mr. Yagami my peer. That would be kinda creepy, no offence.

"She's not Kira. As Aizawa said, she's had four cups of coffee and that added to her small figure she's probably just letting the newly found stress out by yelling random phrases. She's under some sort of observation at some point the entire time she's been an orphan. Besides she's from America, living in England before she came here," said L indirectly pointing out that I have never been in Japan before this time and therefore couldn't be Kira who has been in Japan the entire time of his killings. I started scrambling around the room, looking for the window, for my escape. Though the more I was thinking about the air vent the more I liked it. The window was found first, or maybe what sensible part of my brain that was felt said "You can't unlock the vent you dumbass, no bobby pin." Don't underestimate the bodacious qualities of that hair tool.

"Ah-ha! The window! So long L!" I yelled. There was a small knock. I froze, kinda my knees were shaking as my heart was pounding in my chest. That didn't help my situation. I brushed it off and opened the window as the knock repeated itself, louder. Escaping now would be boring, my game would then turn into hide-and-seek, I also think you can assume where that would go. I finally turned around. "Who raps at my door?" I asked with an English accent. I put my hands on my hips and tried my best to pout regally, that wasn't going to happen. I fell down laughing in seconds.

"I would like to inform you that if you leave you will never see what top secret information I have about Kira." I ran to the door and pressed my ear against the wood, listening. I heard some shuffling, probably everyone but Ukita at the door waiting to me to get out of my fortress. I closed one of my eyes and looked through the key hole, unlike the movies I saw nothing. Why Hollywood! You've lied to me once again. The first time was cutting the red wire to a confetti bomb Matt had made for my birthday, man that took hours to clean up.

"Are you sure?" I asked dragging the last word out. I waited for a moment, everyone was probably baffled at my behavior and how L was handling it, I was actually confused on the matter myself, but with my caffeine clouded mind I didn't care. I opened the door and saw L but an envelope on the couch caught my eye. It had "Top Secret" stamped on it written in Kanji characters. "Mine!" I yelled pushing past everyone and opened the manila package. _"Got you,"_ it read. I reread it through trembling hands and stood up on the couch pointing at L. "Liar! There is no top secret information! Can I have some candy?" I sat back down, my hair falling into my face as I crossed my legs and smiled innocently.

"Are you crazy?" asked Task Force in unison. I crossed my arms and stuck my lip out in a pout. I was acting more insane than normal, I think that deserves a prize! Ebony wants candy, is that too much for a hyper teen to ask for? Apparently, I mean I know they have candy, I saw L have some for lunch pass the love around people!

"A simple 'no' would've sufficed." I said as the door to the hotel room opened. "Watari, my good man how nice of you to visit!" I yelled almost falling down off of the couch. I waved my arms around windmill style and balanced myself before I hit my head on the coffee table. "Now, about this candy issue, is it debatable or is it a definite no?" I looked around and waited to my answer, trying the innocent smile again. L crouched in his chair, watching me as he considered my question.

"It's a definite no. Ebony-" I shot up and pushed L back, looking him in the eyes, he kept his expression calm and cool. I started laughing uncontrollably as Mogi and Aizawa slowly rounded the corners, trying to capture me. I held my stomach, if they thought I was crazy now, they haven't seen but half of it. I waited until they tried to jump and hug me for both sides before I jumped in the air and landed on Aizawa's back after the two of them landed on the table in failure.

"I said 'no' you blasted cops! Ya know what? I will take L's cake from the fridge and I'm going to eat it too!" I jumped over L and his eyes looked slightly panicked as I took an entire cake from the fridge and ran into my room, dancing around Task Force as I slammed the door and looked around as they were knocking at the door. I sat against the door and put the cake safely away from the door, no use ruining a piece of heaven.

"Ebony, please open the door," pleaded L calmly. I yelled back asking why I should open said gate into my fortress of cake and awesomeness. "I would like some cake." I smiled evilly, my eyes were dilated, I saw that from the reflection from the brass bed frame. I thought about it. I was in control, bring the cake in and L is putty in my hands, I really need to work on my evil laugh right now would be the perfect time to use it.

"How do I know you're not doing to handcuff me and take the deliciousness of cake away from me?" I asked, a quiet gasp coming from Task Force as I heard the clank of metal from the other side of the door. I was right once again! No handcuff will keep me chained down! I have my ways L, I can even use a shoe lace. Are you going to ban me from shoes? I looked at the cake and frowned. "Aww man! I forgot the fork, this makes Ebony sad."

"Watari, could you contact Matt and ask how to calm her down," I heard L from the dark side of the door in English. This didn't sound good, that red-head knew what my kryptonite was, he wouldn't betray me would he? Well, seeing how I'm super hyper he might. I proclaimed that he might just win the battle with this information. "That's the point Ebony, I hate losing. You're going to have to come out of there eventually."

"Nu-uh! If I ration my cake goodness I can last three days in here, at least." I picked up a strawberry and ate it, my eyes looking up at the bed and smiling. "Alright, maybe two days. I love strawberries." I put the chair against the door, the cake on the chair as I started jumping on the bed, the springs squeaking.

"Uh Ebony, what's that?" asked Matsuda. I yelled what I was doing happily, putting in two cents that I still wanted a fork. "If I get you a fork will you open the door?" I stopped jumping and looked at the chair, a fork? The possibilities, but his plan was transparent. I might not be thinking clearly, but I was no fool.

"No, I expect you to slide it under the door Matsu. Now go forth my knight! Bring the queen her fork." I then remembered the window. I smiled as I heard Matsuda's footsteps fade as I jumped off of the window and stuck my head outside the window and screamed at the top of my lungs at the people. Some of course looked up at me like I was mad, maybe I was, oh well. I stuck my head in and used my finger to get some of the icing off of L's-my-cake and lick it off. Heaven in a cake, is all I will say.

"Ebony, if you don't open the door, we'll be forced to chain you to the couch again, and Matsuda won't be giving you fruit. You'll also be just out of reach of the fridge," said L calmly. I felt my head snap toward the door, he wouldn't. Actually he would, and he knew that if I was allowed my thinking food I could escape. I already thought of a way out of this, surely he didn't think I'd stoop that low as to steal someone's shoe. Alright if I was desperate enough I would. All in the name of freedom, desperation has no bounds. However, he was holding something back, and I intended to know that.

"There's more isn't there? What did he tell you L?" I said suspiciously cautiously walking toward the door. "Let's not forget this is a hostage situation." I tried using the keyhole again. Still nothing, why don't we have those overly sized ones in modern times? These small ones are impossible to see through; I needed to know if I was being ambushed from the other side of the door. Again I needed something to unlock the air vent.

"What? Who is the hostage, you're the only one in here?" asked Aizawa, I think. I picked up the cake and smelled the unhealthy goodness. It was just as much torture to me not being able to eat it as it was on L knowing that I had locked myself up in here with said treat. I still needed a freaking fork! I was this close…well you can't see it, just imagine me putting my fingers two centimeters apart, from using the air vents of so very cliché-like to get me the silverware I require to eat this cake!

"I have the cake," I said dead serious, my eyes looking at the intricate swirls made with the frosting, all I needed was a fork. I looked loving at it, licking my lips in hunger as I picked off the last of the strawberries. It's painful for me too cake. You were made to be eaten and I was made to eat. THIS IS MESSING WITH THE ORDER!

"Yes, there is more to my threat. Matt said that you are very ticklish, Matsuda will then be put on tickling duty." My heart sank, he sold me out. My boyfriend-I think- sold me out! When I get enough concentration to work a computer that boy is getting an earful. Well, I might ask him about our relationship status before hand, we don't have a facebook page like majority of the world, Roger's rules. I crossed my arms and weighed my options, endless tickling torture, or walk out and be restrained until my caffeine rush cooled down. I slowly opened the door, and as expected everyone was gathered around it.

I turned my head and grumbled as I handed the cake back to L, crossing my arms thereafter, being handed a folder from the detective. "Read it over, I want to see how good your photogenic memory is," he said as he handed Mr. Yagami the cake and went to crouch on the chair he had claimed. I took the envelope and bounced over to the couch and immediately laid upside down on it. I opened the envelope and looked at the three pages, all covered in words in about 8-point font. I widened my eyes at it.

"Whoa! That's a lot of words," I said with a small yawn the coffee buzz finally wearing off. It was fun while it lasted. "This is going to be interesting, I've never read anything hyper before." I flipped back to the first page, and clicked my tongue, asking if I was allowed to have any fruit, saying it helped me focus.

"I think it'll be better if you didn't," he replied putting a fork full of cake in his mouth. He was totally rubbing it in! I frowned as I flipped over and stood up. I started pacing, reading over the packet like I'd read anything else in the world. Barely enough interest and concentration for the words to register in my head, and somehow this worked. I wasn't focused on memorization, I knew that would invalidate the point, and I was up for a challenge.

The article was over a bus jacking, one that Raye Penbar was on a couple of weeks before his death. It was mainly information the bus driver had as a witness to the death of the criminal, one was being hunted at the cops this, no more hunting for him anymore huh. He got on the bus and hijacked it, like any other crime, but upon touching a piece of paper, one that another passenger was using to take notes. Didn't say anymore than that, this frustrated me because of what happened next, if we known who could be Kira, he seemed sane before so this was more confusing. He then went crazy, the agent then stood up to try to get a handle of the situation only to witness the perpetrator get off the bus, and by sheer luck gets ran over by a van. Yeah luck, seemed too convenient. Does this phrase seem familiar to anyone else? If not see Chapter One, it might be a nice refresher.

I put the small packet back into the file, handing it to L as I spun on my heel and jumped onto the couch, yawning. I put my arm over my eyes as I closed them, reason number 559 I'm glad I don't wear make-up; you don't have to worry about smudging it. "May I take a nap?" I could feel the detective's eyes on me as he says that it would be fine. I smile and let my thoughts slow down and I fall into a cat-nap like trance. I say that, but I was informed later that I was snoring, and drooling. Whatever, they're just jealous.

I raised my arms above my head, my shoulder popping into place as I sat up and moved my hair from my eyes, Task Force, all except Mogi were still there gathered around the coffee table going over evidence. What evidence was there, all Kira does is kill people. I really wanted to know how that guy killed people. I narrowed my eyes as L handed me a laptop, not saying anything. Oh yeah, I had to show off my memorization skills, though I wasn't even trying. I guess this is more accurately described as reading skills, which I am a total beast on. I nodded and opened the lid, it was already ready for the information, a blank word document staring at me.

I closed my eyes and recalled the pages, my fingers flying on the keyboard quickly not making many mistakes as I opened them and increased my speed slightly. I paused and looked at the screen, the font and size all wrong. I highlighted the text and fixed it, Times New Roman 8. I smiled and continued typing like I was a secretary. Sure I'm a perfectionist when I recall information this way, not my fault I blame my head.

"There was the normal on the hour killings yesterday, only an extra. This was a minor robber, tried to mug a convenience store," said Mr. Yagami looking up at me briefly. That was the story of Kira's life when we started the surveillance on the two houses. I guess we wait now, if the killings start back up what has been concluded as Kira's "norm" then the suspicion on Light increases. I didn't look up as I continued typing, slightly nodding, already on half a page. I was still listening, as a few of the names were read off for me. I paused and tilted my head, these criminals were in two categories, names that would be repeated often, or criminals that have been in prison for a few years, interesting. I went back to typing as I felt everyone's questioning glance as me. I looked at them and nodded toward L.

"He's probably thinking the same thing," I said just above a mumble as I passed over into page two. The gaze was shifted toward L. I know I was dodging a bullet, I mean I love to talk like every other person in the world, but I was busy. When I do go off into my own world of memory I shut off everything else, I might be thinking about other things, but overall I don't talk at all. He looked at me for a moment before saying exactly what I was thinking.

"We know Kira can kill at anytime he wishes, he could've planned these in advance while he plans something else. Seeing how he possibly could've known we installed security cameras I say we should look out for anything else strange." I smiled and nodded as I closed my eyes again. I tapped impatiently as I figured out the next word, the page count now nearing the last page that was only half covered in the tiny words. Who uses font this small anyways? I use 12 point font typically, mainly because that's the preset in the options, but even at that size it was small in my opinion.

"I'm almost done, just need about a page left," I muttered as I neared the break. L nodded and reproduced the file I had read before my nap. That was a good nap, maybe I should go insomniac like L and just take naps, but then I don't get to mess with Task Force, that's no fun. I pouted as I looked at what autopilot had done. Huh, exactly how I read it. Go mind, go mind, it's…almost your birthday. Yup, Saint Patty's baby, right here.

"What's she doing?" asked Matsuda. I explained my photographic memory, and that I was being tested on how good it actually was. Task force looked at me curiously as I typed the last few sentences and turned the laptop toward L, standing up to get a bottle of water, and a mango, from the kitchen. "That's cool, so you just look at something and its permanently etched into your memory?" I turned toward him and shook my head, I was used to people questioning how this head worked.

"Not exactly, from what I've found out, conducting experiments like these on my own time, I have to look at it for precisely three seconds to get an idea, or 8 seconds to have it embedded in my memory. That is if the thing I need to memorize is a picture. Things like looking at you guys can just be replayed as a video, this is the part I hate. For the case of print, I just have to read it over carefully, meaning I can't simply skim it. After that the information is stuck in my head here for about a year before it starts to fade. The exception is my recurring dream, happens the same day each year."

"Really? What's the dream about?" asked Matsuda innocently. I looked at him and shook my head, putting a bite of mango in my mouth. I wasn't in the mood, I narrowly avoided that bullet this year, I was determined to forget. I have been determined, it wasn't going to happen though. I was doomed to forever remember.

"Matsuda, it's a dream I wish I could forget, there is a reason I call it that," I said quietly as L looked up from the laptop with a small smile on his face. He has only smiled once, close to smiling occurred more than this. What was happening? I looked around, no the world didn't explode that was good. Everyone then turned their head toward the detective as he put the laptop on the table in front of him.

"It's copied word for word. Good job Ebony, you exceeded my expectations," he said, I gave him my thanks and sat back, and nodded. The rest of task force wanted to see for themselves, I gestured toward the laptop and said that they could look if they wanted, the sooner I got their trust the better in my opinion. "May I ask a few more questions?" I shook my head and said that it was fine. "What about audio, can you remember things you hear this well?" I scoffed nope, though I'm sure I've said this before, ah oh well.

"No, I tried. Unless I took notes I only remember them at a slightly above average rate. Nothing compared to what I can recall from seeing it," I replied as Matsuda stood up announcing it was an exact copy. "and that's after a nap, I had plenty of time to forget it." I was smiling smugly as I shifted my position and hung upside down. "So know what? Wait! I have someone I need to scold! Nobody gives away my kryptonite and gets away with it!" I pointed to the ceiling I as something caught my eye.

I leaned forward and picked up the file, it had my last name on it. No, I'm not saying what it is so forget it! I sat back and frowned as I opened it, looked at the English print. I cannot say how happy I was to know that these guys had very limited knowledge of English. Not only could the panda-man and I have secret conversations, but my personal case could well, stay personal. I actually read it, even though I knew that happened. It was surreal though, reading it for myself. The words didn't display any emotion, sure L may know what happened but he still didn't know the emotional toll this experience was on me.

I wasn't mad at him for poking into my personal business. It's happened before, Matt did it and showed Mello who asked him to look in the first place. They got a condensed version of this, and to ice the cake, they didn't even know I knew. Though Matt did know that January 13th was never a good day for me, I remember that first night. Yes another flashback deal with it. I was stupid thinking that moving to England would've changed anything.

_I shot up in my bed screaming, sweat running down my face as my eyes widened in fear, shock, and longing for my lost parents. I was panting as my door opened roughly, a person running into my room saying my name-yes my alias- trying to snap me out of whatever trance I seemed to be under. He, I had assumed, gently put his hand on my shoulders and stiffened himself as he saw and felt that I was trembling._

"_Ebony, come-on snap out of it, what happened?" Matt's voice coaxed as he gently shook me, getting slightly desperate as I finally blinked, my wide eyes slowly returning to normal as I slowly stopped trembling, the sound of someone else running toward my room, and another one stomping toward my room filled the air. I lifted my head toward the door as I pulled my knees to my chest, it was better to explain it all at once. The red-head sat on the edge of my bed and took my hand in a friendly manner, and ran his thumb over the top of it. I looked at him as I hastily wiped away tears I didn't know were there to begin with._

_Mello arrived first, his hair standing up in every direction, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. He was scowling, I was interrupting his beauty sleep, how dare I do that, I know. Roger ran in after him sliding on the floor briefly. I looked at my blue comforter and played with the ends of my hair. I could some-what lie and just say that it was a bad dream, technically that's what it was. Just a dream that depicted what really happened in sharper detail than I had remembered seeing it, but a dream nevertheless. It was the best way to make them leave me alone, I mean I was 10, nightmares were still pretty common at that age._

"_Sorry, I had a bad dream," I whispered as Roger sighed in relief and said he was glad I was alright. I watched him leave. Mello just huffed and said he'd "deal with me" tomorrow. "It's 4 in the morning Mel, it's already tomorrow," I remarked with a sarcastic smile, happy that he couldn't care less to show overwhelming concern He then called me a smart ass and slammed his door shut. _

_I turned back to my best friend, at that time, and let my lips curl up into a small smile. He studied my eyes for a moment. That goofy red-head had stayed, clearly wasn't asleep to begin with. He tilted his head to the side, he knew I was holding something back, I mean he didn't get the title of "best friend" just because it was a cool name, he deserved that name because he knew me as a person better than everyone else in the orphanage. _

"_Eb, what happened in your dream?" I looked at him and then turned toward the window two feet from the head of my bed. It was a full moon, the light spilling through the blinds was really pretty. Soothing, had the aura of "everything is going to be alright" the feeling of a mother's hugs and how it warms your stomach with care and love. This is the main reason I missed her, never again does that warm feeling wash over me. Remembering her and her face brings me nothing but pain. I held out my hand and let it be shown in the moonlight as the giant space rock started its descent. _

"_It was my parent's death, don't worry about it. I'll b fine. I mean, I'm here for a reason aren't I?" I asked with a small smile. Matt's expression hardened, he knew what I was going on about without saying it. We're orphans, there's only a few reasons why we end up in a place like this after all._

_We all wanted to believe we were here because our parents couldn't afford to keep us, any orphans best reason for being in an orphanage in our opinions. Sure we're still an orphan we're just not bearing the burden of our dead parents. It was better in our minds to think that our parents were alive, regretting that they had to give us up, but also believing that we were in better hands than knowing that their existence on Earth is no more. I would go into religion, but I'm not a big partaker in that, and it's different for every person what the afterlife holds._

"_Was it your memory kicking in?" he asked raising an eyebrow as I nodded. I closed my fist and blinked as I pulled it from the light. "There's really no use going back to sleep. Wanna go play Burnout?" He scratched the back of his head and shifted his weight uncomfortably. I stood up and nodded. To sum it all up, this is the same night I knew I could trust Matt with my life, that he had my back just as often as he had Mello's._

I smiled to myself and turned toward L, handing him the file. "He's still alive. I would've caught his name if Kira got to him," I said not noticing that I was still in Japanese mode. I widened my eyes as I knew I had some explaining to do. I sighed, they were going to find out anyways right? I ran my hand through my hair as I listened to Mr. Yagami stepping to the plate and asking the million dollar question.

"What do you mean Ebony?" I looked up at him and forced a smile, not even bothering to hide it. I stood up and sat on the table, I've never really told anyone I was an orphan, I wanted to see how these men reacted. Though the question had to be asked, did they really think my parents just let me come to Japan? Though L had already told them I was alone in the world family wise, they didn't know why.

"When I was five everyone, excluding me obviously, in my family was murdered. By all technicalities I am an orphan-as Ryuzaki said. This file," I said holding it up again and threw it back down crossing my arms, "is in English, and it tells what happened in an emotionless drawl that doesn't make me very happy. Doesn't capture the weight of the situation at all." I shook my head and crossed my arms.

"Really? What happened?" I looked at Matsuda incredulously. He really did just ask this, I shook my head and sighed, saying that's a little personal and though L has obviously crossed that line, it wasn't the first time someone's done this. "Oh, alright." He frowned. I stood up and walked to the window, holding my hands behind my back.

"It's only a matter of time before he dies. He's a murderer, should've gotten the death sentence but during the trial someone spoke on his behalf and saved his life, sort of. He killed a four-year old little girl. Life sentence, but he's not dead." I shook my head and scanned the Japanese skyline. "We're not investigating an old solved murder that happened back in America are we? We're here to catch Kira, and that's what we're going to do." L nodded as he sipped some of his tea.

I walked over and sat in the chair next to the detective, picking up another random file and started reading it over. He looked at me with a curious look, the file stated who saved that man's life. It was surprising to the jury and everyone else in attendance, but I was sent to Wammy's for a reason now wasn't I?

I smiled to myself, justice was served that day in its own way, and here I was trying to solve my own murder case not even caring what happened. I just wanted to solve this thing for my amusement, being a genius got boring. It's nice to mix things up sometimes. I picked up a blackberry from a bowl that Watari had brought in. I threw it in the air and caught in my mouth, smiling to myself. I looked around the room, yeah this is going to be something I wasn't going to forget for a long, long time.

* * *

**Is it sad that I cried laughing so hard while editing this chapter? The first half, not Serious Ebony at the end. I don't think it is, I mean look at what she said! I have to admit, I've never been so hyper I've held a cake hostage, but I just might whenever I get hyper the next time that happens.**

**As always thanks for everyone who has favorited, alerted, reviewed, and simply sat back and read this story thus far, couldn't do it without you guys. Well I can, but it makes me feel good knowing people like my stories, motivates me to get off of my lazy butt and edit these chapters. Can't blame me for lying now can you? Anyways time to respond to the new reviews I have.**

**To Chocoholics Unite: **

_**Pie: **__Is it sad I was expecting a cough during your epic evil laugh?_

_**Ebony:**__…No, I don't think it is. I mean I cough when I evil laugh, that's a skill, as well as raising an eyebrow that I need to perfect. MATT YOU BETTER NOT RUB IT IN_

_**Matt:**__ Alright, I won't… NOOO damn, I crashed._

_**Ebony: **__ *peeks over Matt's shoulder to see smoldering remains of a Lamborghini* Poor car, never saw it coming. It was a nice one too._

_**Matt:**__ Right?...you only know this from the handful of racing games I've made you play don't you?_

_**Ebony:**__ *smiles innocently* Nooo, I….uh….peeked into Roger's office and saw a car catalog? _

_**Pie:**__ *Raises eyebrow*I'm not even buying it._

_**Ebony:**__ AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN'T RAISE AN EYEBROW HERE! *thinks* Mello can you-_

_**Mello:**__ Yup. _

_**Ebony:**__ I don't believe you!_

_**Mello:**__ *raises eyebrow*_

_**Ebony: **__ DANG IT! _

_**Pie:**__ Going back to your review XD I haven't either but it's fun to think I waltz the line between sane and insane, that way people don't look at you weird. We must have ninja battle :D_

**To Hello-Totoro-Ninja**

_**Pie:**__ I've had a Monster before Chemistry class once. OMG it's a shocker I didn't get sent out of the room! Seriously though my friends were looking at me like I was crazy, my words sounded like mush. I got my work done before everyone else though so it was all that bad. _

_**To Kashgal and Natures Ruler:**_

_**Pie**__ Ha-ha Mello you screwed up, good luck genius boy!_

_**Ebony:**__ I call his chocolate! *raises hands* Matt will probably pawn off most of your room for game money, so let's hope there's something valuable in there._

_**Mello:**__ As if! I bet I can outsmart her in the blink of an eye._

_**Ebony: **__*blinks* Come-up with anything yet? _

_**Mello:**__ It's a figure of speech you dumbass!_

_**Ebony:**__ *holds hands up in "whoa we have a badass over here" fashion*Geez, oh and you better get started on that sammich, the lady wants turkey. _

_**Mello:**__ I heard her! I heard her! Where's Matt anyways?_

_**Matt: **__Setting up the pillows, knowing Mel he isn't going to stop until he wins. It's always the same, no matter what it is, though knowing him he's going to-_

_**Mello:**__ SHUT-UP!*covers Matt's mouth*_

_**Ebony: **__*Continueing Matt's sentence* -use the chemicals typically found in turkey against her and make about a dozen sandwiches thus causing her to pass out quicker._

_**Pie:**__ Thus, making Mr. I-Must-Win, the winner!_

_**Mello:**__ I really hate you guys._

_**Pie, Ebony, and Matt:**__ CAN'T YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT?_ _(From the Lion King when Nala and Simba get reunited) _


	10. Chapter 10 1 Kira? Nahh Make it 2

**Chapter Ten One Kira? Nahh Make it Two Double the Fun!**

**I'm only putting this A/N here because it's important, and I'll say it again later, multiple times. I have moved BB's death (yes, he's going to have a chapter all to himself) up a year, so instead of dying in 2007, he's dying in 2008. I mean, it's not like they announced it in the anime anyways. **

The famous detective had decided to take the To-Oh entrance exams with Light, and to no one's shock he got I was still trying to figure out whether he did it to get Light's attention or to because he hates being anything but first. It was now early spring, but compared to the winter weather, it was warmer, I didn't need to hunt down my jacket just to sit on the roof of the newest hotel we were staying in. Hotel hopping, though changed the scenery was nice it took effort, and I don't like putting in effort.

Mr. Yagami was in the hospital, he had a heart attack due to stress. I was there when Light and L showed up. Now the Kira suspect knew I was "related" to L, our spur the moment cover still hold strong we were "cousins" after all. From what I could tell, he didn't panic when I told him that, he was concerned about his dad, and was suspicious of my actual intelligence level, he didn't want to be battling two L's if he was Kira, but his expression remained calm, his eyes mostly too concealed by his hair. To be honest I was surprised I got to look in his eyes as much as I did.

"_Mr. Yagami! Don't look at the Light!" I said standing in front of Light in an "X" "You're too young to die! Wha-!" L grabbed my hand and I was jumping on one foot trying not to fall on my face as the teen walked in, his eyes pointed to me. He eyes shined in disbelief, saying "I can't believe she's supposed to be smart." Well, my IQ says differently Mr. Smarty-Pants. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, that I had finally jumped on the crazy train. All aboard! _

"_Ebony, there is a time and a place for everything, but don't you think the hospital is the last place to make jokes?" asked the detective as he let me go once Light took a seat. I walked to the window and sat against the sill smiling. I turned and took in the foggy landscape. Light was acting calm, too calm. He was still hiding his eyes, and unless I knew why I really didn't like it when people hide behind something to cover their eyes. Matt's goggles was for protection when he played a game, for fashion, and because me reading people's eyes was as he put it "kinda creepy Eb." _

"_Aww come-on it was just trying to lighten the mood. Get it lighten? Old people are no fun, yes I know I just called you old Light, you are older than me," I kicked my feet out happily as the conversation was lost on me, I was in a good mood that day. I didn't really know why, I just was._

Right now however, having found out that Raye Penbar's wife, Naomi Misora had been missing for quite some time, about 4 months. My gut said she was dead, but my head didn't want to believe it. I put the blame on the fact she was in LA in 2002, I'll leave it there for now, it's a story that involves jam and blood and I still don't understand all of the details of the case, and I never will. We came to the conclusion, meaning L did, that if we were to look into this it would have to be separate, and we were going to have to use sketches. By that time everyone was looking at me. I looked up from my orange slice and scanned the room.

"What? Sure I can draw but I only recreate photos. I can't draw anything original without making it look like cartoons," I said innocently showing a cute picture of a person with dark hair looking slightly mad, in a bunny suit, holding a carrot and everything. We all turned our heads again as Watari quietly walked in, his calm face looking slightly distressed. The gut was going off, again saying something bad was about to happen. I hate it when my gut is right.

"Ryuzaki, there's something happening on Sakura TV, something terrible is happening," he said I picked up the remote and turned the small television on. I leaned back in my seat, sitting sideways like normal. I bit my bottom lip as nervous people stood behind me. The screen showed three people sitting behind a chair, stiff nervous. Understandable, they were anchors, if anyone was to worry about being killed other than criminals by Kira it would be them. "Hi I'm 'insert name here' and I am reporting live." There's the ingredients for Kira's killings.

"_In other words all reporters and staff are Kira's hostages. It is also our duty as broadcasters to give you this announcement," _said one of the reporters. I shifted my position to match L's, I found that it helped me think a little more, about 40% as L said when I asked him. Go figure right? The reporter said that he was going to show us something I turned to Matsuda, asking him for a bowl of grapes, with a smile.

"Sure Ebony," he said with a smile. Four months and by now Task Force was used to my quirks, I haven't pulled another big prank either, L made sure to keep me busy. Not only with case oriented tasks, but also with random puzzles. It kept me entertained, can't really complain can I? I also was becoming more of a night person, once a week I'd stay up and play some sort of game with L whether it be cards or chess or even charades, that was only fun because I was the one acting out random sentences. I actually got L to say "I'm a pretty princess." The game was no longer an option unfortunately. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

According to Sakura TV, there were four tapes, and they insisted that they were sent by Kira. What did they know? We were the police, we had the super geniuses, huh L and I need costumes…or at least a cape, yeah capes. I turned to the blue bowl of purple grapes nonchalantly as I gently grabbed two of them in and calmly ate them. The first tape predicted the deaths of two felonies, they must've died if they were saying this, but we needed the tapes to be sure. Rule…something-or-another on being a detective: Don't trust people's word, look at the evidence for yourself. The second tape had a message to the public, more specifically L if my thoughts were right on this. Why does he get all the fame? E wants to be famous too!

"This has to be another fake you think?" asked Ukita. Matsuda said he didn't think so, and I slightly nodded my agreement to the bearer of grapes. The screen turned white, black letters spelling out Kira. There was some ruffling of papers, as if they weren't ready for the tape to begin. The person cleared their throat. How unprofessional, and clearing your throat doesn't help either whoever you are!

"_**I am Kira,"**_ whoever recorded the tape said. I tuned everything out at that point, listening to only the dubbed voice. Direct, this is how I would describe how he…she was coming forth about this. Something about this didn't scream Kira to me, and I've been here for four months, I was pretty sure I could deem this person of being the real Kira pretty easily. I've read a psychology text book out of boredom! I have evaluated what I've thought of Kira, and so far this wasn't him. "_**If this video is aired on April 18th at exactly 5:59 PM as I requested then it is now 5:59 47…48…49. Please turn the channel to Tauo TV the news anchor Mr. Kazuhiko Hibama will die of a heart attack at exactly 6 o'clock."**_ There was a collective gasp as L in a panic yelled for the channel to be turned. I juggled the remote, I don't remember putting butter on this thing, and pointed the remote to the TV. We stood, or sat, in a momentary shock as we saw a news crew gathered around the anchor mentioned, he laying back in his chair…dead. My blood ran cold, my eyes widened as I bit the inside my lip.

"How could he?" asked Ukita shocked. I felt my expression harden, something was still off. He was an innocent person! This isn't Kira, this is someone else, my mind was made up, I just needed proof, or more weight to this theory. Forget that for a moment though. My question is, how? How did this man, or woman, get the same weird ability Kira has? Something wasn't adding up. If this person has Kira's ability does that mean anyone can? If that's the case, we should be scared beyond our wildest dreams.

I looked at the horror filled faces of Task Force, if anyone could have this power, could it be passed like a virus? If that's the case the most exposed would be Mr. Yagami, two kids who go to school and could be exposed. Nobody would report having this ability as well, the fear of being killed by "patient" zero, Kira, was too much.

"If this is Kira than he has no remorse for these deaths, though…this isn't his style," I said calmly, I had a feeling I was the calmest person, that showed emotion in the room at that moment. I didn't know how long this was going to last, I mean I'm not exactly known for ignoring impulse. I turned the channel back at L's request, he also asked Watari for 2 more TV's. I looked at him for a brief moment before turning my full attention back to Kira. This was bothering him just as much as it was bothering me, it was evident as he bit on his thumbnail.

"_**I will present you with another victim. The next target is NHN TV commentator Mr. Seiji Kumeizumi who is schedule to appear at a live broadcast. He too has guilt to defy Kira."**_ There was another yelled request I turned the channel, I was positive that our expressions were the same. Locked jaw, brows slightly furrowed to maintain a flat expression without anyone else picking up on how mad we were. Sure enough there was another dead person on live TV. I turned it back once we confirmed this death. _**"Now that you see proof of my power, you should have no trouble believing I am Kira."**_ I was in shock, this was mad, this was wrong. I'm not justifying Kira's actions at all, but this person is stepping far out of the line that Kira has repainted. This was pure murder, almost like worship by the tone of voice changing slightly when this Kira said their "name."

Something else was really standing out to me, proving the first impression that this was a fake. If this really was Kira, wouldn't it of made since that the wording was different? Instead of saying that they were defying Kira, wouldn't the wording be instead "for defying me?" That made more since, as Kira from what I could tell was prideful and arrogant. He'd proudly proclaim himself as Kira once, but after that he'd go and say "me" taking a pride-filled stand on what he's done admitting to be the killer that everyone knew him to be.

"Stop this broadcast, we can't allow him to finish!" yelled L causing me to jump out of my train of thought. "Kira" still not knocking out the possibility this is the real Kira, might've thought of this. The chances of the police being able to stop this are slim. I turned toward him as Matsuda and Aizawa went to the phones trying to get a hold of the TV station. This was to no avail, Aizawa's contacts weren't picking up, neither was the front desk.

"Dammit!" yelled Ukita running for the door, this is the first time I said sentence that had any emotion in it since the broadcast started. I stood up and clenched my fists at my side. My expression was showing what I felt, frustration being the dominant emotion. This was too dangerous, and I'm all for risk taking but this was too far, too crazy.

"Ukita! Think about this hard before you go. Kira needs a face and a name. He will get your face if you go out there and if he does get that then your chance of getting killed goes up, there's no doubt news cast there, or worse yet Kira himself." My voice was hardened with my frustration, my hair fell into my face, I needed to cut my bangs, they were getting too long.

"I don't care I'm stopping this broadcast!" I sighed as he opened the door and slammed it shut. I shook my head and turned back to the screen, running my hands through my hair. I sat back down in the chair, can't say I didn't warn him. Sitting was almost impossible, I wanted to go out there myself and find Kira but for all I know the guy, or girl still convinced this is a third party, is sitting at home eating a Twinkie while this was happening.

"_**People of the world please listen to me. The last thing I want to do is kill the innocent. I hate evil and love justice. I've always thought of the police as allies, not enemies. I intend to create a new world, that is free from evil. If you agree to join me I know we can make it happen and I promise if you try to catch me, the innocent will not die. Even if you don't support me I request you keep showing criminals in the media. If you can do that you will be spared. All you have to do now is be patient. I will create a better world we can all enjoy. Say goodbye to the world as you know it, soon we will have a world ran by honest people. Imagine a world where the police and I-" **_

I turned toward L, he was getting just as frustrated as me, he was biting his thumb as the expression that I was used to be completely neutral was now slightly more irritated than it was a few minutes ago. My face was set in a scowl, I was having a hard time sitting down, I was going to have to start pacing. Watari walked in and hooked up the TV's turning one onto the news. I looked at it, dropping the grape I had in my hand. No…

"Ukita…" I said distantly. He was laying on the ground right in front of Sakura TV's station, limp. He was dead, end of freaking story. Kira had gotten to him, April 18th, 2007 at about 6:12 PM, rest in peace friend. We knew there was a police information leak so there was a possibility that Kira already knew the real names of the police task force. Meaning L, Watari and myself were the only ones "safe." My stomach dropped in fear, the first time thus far I've felt this emotion this strong in years.

"Mr. Aizawa!" said L, almost in a growl I clenched my fists, that idiot! I stood up, I could stand it! The chair I was sitting in crashed to the floor as I bowed my head and pulled my lips back in anger. I walked around the hotel room. Damn Kira! "Where are you going?" I closed my eyes and started pacing, mumbling under my breath curses aimed toward Kira, not all of them were in Japanese and English either. My hands were interlaced with each other and were resting on the crown on my head.

"Where do you think I gotta go there!" declared the afro man. I stopped walking and bowed my head again. My fists clenched and acting totally on impulse I punched a wall. Everyone then turned toward me as I held my fist to the wall and used my other fist to punch the same wall. I let my hands slide off of the wall and then leaned against the wall, eyes closed as I held the bridge of my nose.

"You can't! Think about this rationally Aizawa!" I will hand it to him, I was mad, he was mad, we both were acting on impulse, me more so than him, he was at least listening to me. My voice didn't give this emotion away, it was a monotone, I let my body language speak for me. "If you go out there do you know what'll happen? We'll be digging two god damn graves instead of one. Do you want that Aizawa? Do you want to die doing something so stupid, stupid people think it's stupid. Use the head you have under that afro!" Aizawa growled at me, as I lifted my head from the wall and looked him in the eyes.

"You said Kira could kill without a name! So how could this happen!" He yelled as Matsuda said the fake ID's didn't work. He then asked if Kira had all their names yet. I finally let out my anger, yelled out my frustrations, the questions on the current situation stopping as I slid down the wall and growled at Kira. All Kira needed now was a face? This barely made since.

"That's a definite possibility. However, if that was the case you would think it would be easier to kill the entire task force before making a move. Initially I deduced that Kira needed both a name and a face to kill, but from what we've just seen I seems entirely possible that Kira could kill with only a face. All I know for sure is that Kira is either in that TV station, or he's somewhere close by, in a place where he could watch everyone who enters the building." This was starting to get interesting, I was almost fully convinced that we were dealing with another Kira, or the first one has retired and there is still only one, but then we would've seen a change in the killings wouldn't we?

I started pacing again slowly, now the only people paying attention to me was Watari and Mogi. I tuned out Aizawa's irrational yelling and L's calm responses. I was pushed out of the way as he grabbed L's shirt in anger, demanding to know why he had asked if he was willing to put his life on the line to catch Kira, why they were still there idling watching him kill. I slid on the floor in my socks and snapped again, seriously people who act like this shouldn't be put in the same building together. I reacted and pulled Aizawa off of L, I then looked him in the eyes and started my own rant on why going to Sakura TV was a bad idea.

"Aizawa! Putting your life on the line to catch Kira by investigating and going to Sakura TV right now and getting killed are two totally different things. Even if Kira is in the area, we don't know where this person is, this gives said person the advantage and more time to kill us. Now let's think like people who don't have a short fuse and more like Kira. Why is he now choosing to make a broadcast?" I paused for a moment and exhaled loudly. "I didn't come here to watch as you commit suicide." I sat back down and buried my face in my hands. There was a moment of silence.

"Please control yourself, we've lost Ukita. I understand you want to go over there, but if something were to happen to you as well…" he didn't finish there was no need, the fact his hands were gripping his legs to tightly said it all. I gently put my hand on his shoulder; he turned toward me as I saw that our distressed expressions were matching. I buried my head in my knees as I hugged them to my chest.

I jumped as the sound of glass breaking from the news TV rang through the now silent hotel room. I saw a truck, it ran into the Sakura TV building. Now, who could that be? "Ryuzaki, I'm not going to be getting much sleep." He nodded as he asked for officer Kitamura's number, giving him orders to stand down, the police and everyone. There was another call by Watari, the phone was handed to L, arranging Chief Yagami to go out the front door in 5 minutes, getting protection by the police. It was actually kind of cool to watch him talk from phone to phone.

We watched from the TV's as officers who's faces were completely covered made a cover in the front entrance to that Chief Yagami could leave without being seen. I gave the screen a small smile as the get-a-way car drove off, as the announcer said the police was against Kira. Take that mass murderers of the world named Kira, no matter how many there were of you, seriously wasn't one enough?

I exhaled a sigh of relief, and leaned back. This wasn't a plot to lure us out. I was positive of this. Kira simply wanted to spread a message to the world. Direct, it was too direct. Kira isn't that direct on what he set things up to where a normal person would look at it and come to one conclusion while people like L and myself looked at it and saw something else that everyone else agrees to once we point it out. Other than the obvious "Hey Kira, look at me!" message there wasn't anything hidden that was worth noting.

"Chief Yagami!" I said, as well as everyone else but L as the tired man walked in. There's our soldier of war. I jumped over the chair, landing on my butt before standing up and taking some of his weight off of Watari, the bag in his hand given to L. "Come-on soldier. I'm sure your commanding officer demands you to take a load off. You earned it. While I'm on this subject I'm Admiral Ebony." Mr. Yagami scoffed slightly as Watari and I started walking toward the couch.

"Mr. Aizawa will you please take this to the crime lab?" asked L looking into the bag. The afro haired cop still had some friends, it was good that he had all these connections, it was really helping. "That's good, please do so. In the meantime, Ebony and myself will be watching the tapes." I nodded, with a determined smile on my face. Ukita's death won't be in vain. Kira _will_ be caught, and I _will_ be a factor in his arrest, even if I have to sneak off to be a part.

"I thank you for your help, I think it'll be in our best interest if you all got some sleep," I said with a sleepy smile. Everyone in the room looked at me as I pictured Ukita's corpse in my head. I clenched my fists. Now, I've never legitimately _hated_ anyone, great dislike sure, but hate never. Not even Mello when we had first met.

"What about you Ebony?" asked Matsuda. I shook my head, telling him to not to worry about me, that I would be fine, I was getting used to pulling all-nighters. There was a forced chuckle that passed through the room as I sighed and asked for Matsuda's phone. There was something that anybody else might not think of doing considering what had happened.

"Hello?" asked Mrs. Yagami from the other line of the phone. I could hear the worry in her voice, my hunch was right, the cop went off without telling anyone anything. This guy lives and breathes work doesn't he? Might as well get to the point and do what I was planning on doing when I called her. She knew I was with Task Force a lot, but as far as she knew I wasn't an active member.

"Hi Mrs. Yagami, I'm just calling to letting you know that Mr. Yagami is here with the investigation team, safe and sound," I said forcing my voice to sound perky. There was a sigh of relief on the other end of the call. Just doing my job as a member of society, it's the least I can do, tell them their husband is alive.

"He is? Can I talk to him?" I turned toward the still weakened chief and said that he was asleep, and that I'd let him know when he woke up. "Thank you Ebony," she said. I pulled the phone from my ear and hung up, handing back to its owner, turning to L as he handed me a tape. I looked at it and nodded, it was the tape from today, alright. Time to play the pronoun game!

"This is the tape from tonight, I'll see if I can take the dub off," I said as he nodded, putting the first tape into a VCR, sitting back as it started playing. I crouched in the chair next to L as the door of the hotel opened, and closed. I had handed the tape to Watari, asking if he could convert it to an audio file on the computer, he nodded and walked out with the rest of Task Force.

"Hey L, correct me if I'm wrong but haven't we already established that names that were spelled wrong, or names without a picture and their corresponding criminal didn't die? By the fact Ukita went there, and well we saw what happened, all of Kanto Japan did. Should we consider that there might be another Kira as well as the possibility that Kira knows our names and faces?" I asked while nibbling on a piece of star fruit, it was quickly becoming one of my favorites. L put his thumbnail, habitually in his mouth and paused, not meeting my eyes.

"I see, I have also thought about this myself. However there is no evidence to support this."

"Yet," I muttered under my breath smirking.

"Hmm?"

"Yet, there's no proof yet. I may not the best person to be messing with things like a dubbed file. I learned a thing or two from Matt when I was at Wammy's. I can at least distinguish the voice from male and female, though it'll take me all night. I'm not getting any sleep anyways though, might as well be productive." I smiled and stole the strawberry from L's cake with a smile. He glared at me as if I committed a sin. "What? It was a strawberry, it's not like I took the whole cake."

"Yes, but I happen to enjoy the strawberries," L mumbled as he ran his fork through the icing, looking at the spot where the strawberry was on longingly. I put the bowl of fruit on the armrest of my chair. Man for someone who doesn't know much about socializing he knew a lot about making people feel guilty.

"These are sweeter than strawberries, I like them." L looked at the chopped up fruit slices in question and eventually took one, chewing on it lightly before smiling and sticking the entire fruit in his mouth. Though, smiling was an overstatement, it was more like a slight grin. "See? I was right wasn't I?" I raised my eyebrows and voice, pointing at L in a hyper fashion.

"I will admit you were right, the star fruit is sweet." We hadn't noticed, or I hadn't, that the video had played through, and Watari had walked in kindly waiting on the two of us to stop our friendly quarrel. I turned toward him and he nodded. I smiled and went to my bedroom and grabbed my laptop and earbuds, walking into the main room, allowing the laptop to turn on as I bounced into the kitchen, making coffee. Super sweet for L, and sweet for me, I walked in putting his cup on the table, taking a small drink before sitting sideways on the soft chair.

I balanced the laptop on my stomach and put the left earbud in, opening the video file and a voice disguising program, trying to remember what Matt had said, it had literally been years since I've done this. I tried raising the pitch, trying to make the voice at least sound humane, the dub was so low it was like someone breathed in the opposite of helium. I am no chemist, not going to be either so don't sue me for not knowing something. I tried raising the pitch little by little, until it was just overly synthesized, though enough to where the owner of the voice still couldn't be told from male or female.

I looked up from the screen as the video, now being replayed, was on the part where "Kira" reveled which criminals "Kira" had killed to prove to Sakura TV that this Kira was in fact Kira. I went through the files of criminals in my head, interesting. I paused the audio file on my laptop and pulled out the earbud, letting it hanging around my neck.

"42% chance there is another Kira in my opinion," I whispered to myself. "These criminals aren't well known. So much so that the police hasn't released their names or faces on the news, mainly in news papers." I remembered looking at these killings when they turned up yesterday. I paused and thought about it for about five minutes deciding to wait to see if they continued before raising a red flag.

"Yes and Kira kills criminals that have been shown on the news or internet, this is uncharacteristic. Also, this Kira is offering to work with the police, so far the Kira we've been fighting has shown no want to work with us." I nodded in agreement, there was a hopeful note in this Kira's tone, like Kira wanted to join the world, much like a female.

"25% chance this Kira is a female." L looked at me, his hair laying around his eyes, the unspoken question between us. "I don't like using pronouns unless I am almost positive the person I'm using the pronoun for is actually that sex. Meaning I won't be saying 'he' regardless even though it's dominate in our society. Oh! Hey Matt." I saw his smiling face popped up on the screen unexpectedly, I looked at my watch, yup perfect timing on his part.

"Hey Ebony, what's up?" He asked innocently, unaware of what had just happened, I wouldn't expect him too, it wasn't due to be on the internet for another two hours. When it did, he was going to bug me about not warning him. Sometimes that guy was like my mom, but it would've just been something we'd talk about for two minutes and then move on.

"Just working on the case, pulling another all-nighter." I altered how the windows on my screen were arranged. Each program was shrunk so that it only took up half the screen and tried to pick out the synthesized voices out of the main file.

"Talking with L again?" I shook my head, and his eyes grew wider. Back at the orphanage I never stayed up all night, but I was famous for changing what I did to help understand those I considered close. Staying up with Matt to hang out, waking up early to bug Mello, playing chess once a week with Near. "What happened?" he asked suddenly panicked. I turned toward the screen and gauged where I thought his panic level was.

"It'll be on the internet in a few hours, sure I know the details having witnessed it myself but most of it is at this point classified. There are going to be a report of three deaths, the first one was one of Task Force." I said this nonchalantly, no emotion in my voice much like L. I saw the concern in my….best friend's eyes. Hey, that reminded me of something. "Hey Matt, are we a couple or not, I want to know how my head should label you." All concern left Matt's eye, that's me worrying about the wrong thing at the wrong time. He smiled and shook his head, making his hair fall in front of his eyes that were already covered by his goggles. Did I mention I hate when people do that?

"Really Ebony, you're going to worry about this now?" I nodded as I played the video on new settings, nope, that wasn't it, sounded like a demon, quite the opposite of what I needed. "Eb, how about we worry about this when you aren't working." I shrugged and agreed reluctantly.

I frowned at another failure of the removal of the dub. I tried something else, smiling as the voice blend was finally one. "Ryuzaki, listen! Matt be quiet." There was a salute from the gamer as I muted the microphone, unplugging my earbuds and pressing play.

"_**I am Kira,"**_ said the voice in a clear female tone, it was still muddled. The chances of us finding the actual person who made these videos wasn't on our side, but we now have a smaller pool of possible suspects, and to me it made a difference, I could now use a pronoun. Someone make a cake, and we need balloons, a banner that says "it's a girl" would be appropriate too.

"Kira, or this Kira is a she," I stated happily looking at the detective. He nodded slowly, saying that until we had better show this to Task Force in the morning. I smiled wider and unmuted the video chat. "Sorry, I just made a break through. Thanks again for teaching me what I know about computers." Matt looked at me a little confused, but smiled.

"It was my pleasure milady," he made a small bow. I rubbed my eyes and took another drink, coughing at I found my coffee was cold. I looked at the clock, it was already two in the morning, I could've sworn it was only half past nine. "Later than you thought?" I nodded pushed my hair behind my ear. Well, good thing this thing called a microwave was invented, to the heat box…thing. Never mind, it's too far.

"Thought it was 9:30, oh my how time flies, no point in going to bed." I was handed a packet of paper. I took it and furrowed my brow in confusion."What's this?" I asked looking at L, or more specifically a mound of hair. The detective didn't look at me, in fact I was pretty sure he was avoiding my gaze. Why?

"It's a packet of dead criminals from today. Please look at page three." I shrugged and did as he said, my face falling in shock as I found a name that I wasn't expecting to see. I mean I was, but I didn't think it'd be there. The name of the criminal was a man, from America in the LA area. He was convicted years ago, not well known because it was a gang versus gang murder. That man killed my parents and little sister. He was dead, heart attack by the hands of Kira.

My face fell, Matt was calling my name worried. "I'm going to have to call you back, you have school tomorrow you need sleep, I'll see you on CoD." He nodded slowly, reluctant to let me go shining through his goggles.

"Alright, talk to ya later Ebs." I gave him a small smile and closed the lip of my laptop slowly, sitting back so that I could hug my knees to my chest. I put the laptop on the floor under my chair and started looking for his file. Stopping after a moment as I bottled up my emotions for a minute, I needed to think about this.

I should be happy, Kira killed the man that killed my family. The man that ruined the happy life I had. He that took away everything that I held close because someone told him to, he could've said no. I should be happy, and I would have if I didn't fight for this man's life. Yeah, it was me who stood in front of everyone and told the court that the death sentence wasn't the right one. I shook my head and sighed. "Damn you Kira," I muttered clutching my jeans in anger.

"I thought you'd be happy, the man that killed your family has been killed," said L. I shook my head and let my hair smack me in my face. "You played a part in saving him, why did you do it?" I paused and looked in the detective's onyx eyes, my face still flat in expression.

"I fought for a life sentence in court rather than convicting him to death," I said looking toward the ceiling. "I won by stating that the people of the court wouldn't be any better than him if they killed him for his crimes. I won."

"That's very noble, though I still don't understand why you fought for him." If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been sent to Wammy's, wouldn't have met Mello, Near. I wouldn't have met Matt. Who knows what I would be doing. Probably get involved with gangs or something interesting and entertaining. Normal life is boring.

"I figured that if I could fight for him it would let him know that I saw my family's deaths coming and that I didn't blame him, if anyone I blamed my idiot of a father, though it wasn't his fault." I pushed my hair behind my ears and stuck the last piece of fruit in my mouth chewing on it thoughtfully. "Kira makes it sound that I was wrong to save him, but I know I was right. An eye for an eye doesn't seem right, in that situation. But I if given the chance I will kill Kira." L curtly nodded as we continued listening to the tapes over, nobody saying anything, keeping what we thought to ourselves.

This Kira wanted to see L's face, only his. I pursed my lips, from what we've seen Kira to the second power only needs a face, we could put up a fake like we did with the original Kira and not reveal his name, watch to see if he dies like Lind Tailor did, and then share the secret again. If this was the original Kira he wouldn't try this, the first one he'd be expecting this and wouldn't even try killing "L" in the fear of being pointed out as a fool again. He's not stupid.

"Face, she only needs a face," I said quietly, getting up to make another cup of coffee and refill my fruit bowl. "If she needed a name like the first Kira, than she'd be asking for both your name and a face. If she plans to kill you, which is about a 75% chance in my opinion, than this proves that the second Kira doesn't need a name, only a face." I crouched back on the chair and took a drink of the coffee.

"I think we should consider allowing Light Yagami joining our investigation," mumbled L. I coughed as I spit out the coffee, spit take. That's two now, can I stand any more surprises? Though, the cold coffee barely counted. I looked at him, making sure he wasn't pulling my leg. L wasn't one to joke around though, he means what he says. I straightened my back and scratched the back of my neck in thought.

"It'll be easier to keep an eye on him," I said scratching my head. "And if he truly is Kira it'll become more evident the more we watch him, and you won't have to worry about maintaining appearances at school." I put the mango bits in my mouth. "If he really as smart as we're thinking he is then he'll have no problem validating our hunch, they'll trust him more than us."

"That's precisely the reason I have for wanting him to join our investigation." I nodded as I shifted to that I was hanging upside down in the chair. "We'll have him review the tapes, to see if he came to the same conclusion."

"And if he does, our hunch has some ground. What about his suspicion, it'll be at a standstill, the more he follows our thoughts both his innocence and guilt rise. Especially if he says something we haven't thought of before, then the guilt goes up a little." He hopefully wouldn't be so guilty as try to convince us of a lie. If he was smart he knew how smart L was and would think that L could see through his ruse, if L didn't I could.

"I agree, but if he's truly innocent it'll become obvious to us at some point before this investigation is over." I nodded and stretched my arms. It was going to be an interesting time tomorrow once Task Force came back. I tapped my feet together as I sat up and shifted through the files, again, finding the one of my murderer. I read it over, he had been looking for me for the past couple of years, not saying why. It almost made me feel bad that I had disappeared from my old life, my birth name never to be used again.

"He wanted to talk to me, been looking for me with the limited resources he had. Now I will never know what he wanted, though after Kira started killing I have no doubt he had written it down and hid it his cell, probably within the stones." I stood up again and went to take a shower, going over everything we had on the second Kira.

* * *

**Sorry this is a little late, (6 days apposed to my 3-4 days) if you noticed that it was at all. I've gotten to the part of the series that I've been waiting to get to for like ever! Needless to say I'm excited and saddened at the same time, I think the rough draft is almost done. **

**IN OTHER NEWS! (Meaning read) I have been thinking about making a prologue to Ebony story, ya know her going to Wammy's meeting Matt, Mello, and Near and befriending them, maybe solving a "great Wammy mystery" I mean, it is Ebony for Pete's sake. PLEASE let me know what you think. I also have a sequel, so that's a possibility of two more "books" **_**IF**_** you guys want the prequel to Ebony's story.**

**My idea overload rant is over. That's to everyone who had reviewed, favorited, alerted, or simply read this story up until this point. **

**To: Skyerider**

_**Pie:**__ I'm glad that you couldn't wait to get to this point! _

**To Kashgal and Natures Ruler:**

_**Ebony:**__ I'm going to hate myself later for doing this…but come-on Matt, we're helping Mister Princess Blondie._

_**Mello:**__ Hey!...Ya know I'm going to shut-up because if I don't I might lose my help._

_**Matt:**__ Why are you bringing me into this? I haven't been involved yet. *gets pulled by Ebony* Fine, I'll help, but you owe me!_

_**Ebony:**__I can live with this. Japanese release of a Final Fantasy game good?_

_**Matt:**__ …._

_**Ebony:**__ AND I'll get you a PSN card thing…happy?_

_**Matt:**__ And a date?_

_**Ebony:**__ Really? That's the selling point? Of course you red-headed goofball *inward Ebony is having a party in her head*_

_**Pie:**__ Could we get back to these sandwiches? We still have 85 to make before we can slip Mello away into my hidden bunker and pretend we don't know where he….oops. _

_**Ebony:**__ Pie! I thought you were supposed to be like 8th in your class. Doesn't that automatically makes you smart, right?_

_**Mello:**__ You're apparently smarter than me, I've yet to be convinced of this "fact" _

_**Pie:**__ You know we can stop helping you at anytime, do you really want to insult her while she's insulting me? _

_**Mello:**__ Don't tell me, it's one of those "you mess with her then you're messing with me too" kind of things._

_**Ebony:**__ Well I do live in her head…_

_**Matt:**__ Guys…the turkey "sammich" wall is done. _

_**Pie and Ebony:**__ *Drag Mello to hiding place* _

**To Guest (sorry it didn't show your name DX)**

_**Pie:**__ The Lion King is one of my favorite kid's movies. It's like I'm magic XD I think it's because I've seen the sequel a couple of weeks ago and I was just thinking about it…OOOORRR because I randomly say that around my friends._

_The character development really takes a load off of my shoulders, that's honestly the only reason why I started writing Fan Fiction, my characters in my original stories seemed too linear. It started with one, and I ended up trashing that one…and now I am not writing any original stories BUT I am thinking about starting one inspired by Kuroshitsuji but at the same time I might turn that into a Fan Fiction too XD. _

_Thanks for reading!_


	11. Chapter 11 Enter Light

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any other copyrighted material referenced. Ebony, my OC is mine.**

**Chapter 11 Enter Light**

I was laying in the chair sideways as L explained what we had came to during our late night. Looking at my reflection in my cereal spoon, I noticed was having the beginning signs of bags under my eyes, I was going to need a nice long nap, or maybe a good night's sleep. Ceasing all sleep activity was also an option, then I could be Zombie Panda-the second. I had found entertainment in watching the expressions of Matsuda, Mr. Yagami, and Aizawa changed from business to shock as L said that there was a possibility of not one, but two Kiras. It's a Kira Party, and apparently we're the sore losers on the outside while the Kiras have the party of a lifetime, rubbing it in.

"I don't understand, what makes you think there's a copy-cat? How did you come to that conclusion?" asked Aizawa in disbelief. I turned my head and stretched, closing my eyes as I opened my mouth sighing in thought. Does "gut feeling" count as an answer? I mean, majority of detective work was going around listening to a gut feeling and then trying to prove, or disprove, that human instinct was the best thing to go on. To the evidence! Does anyone have a Batman Theme song ready? No, alright I can hum it! Da-nana-nana-nana BAT MAN!

"First off, the criminals that this Kira killed were minor criminals, the ones the Kira we've been chasing normally lets be. If Kira wanted a message passed on to us, why would he need to prove himself, a threat would suffice in his shoes, and if Sakura TV didn't comply then he'd prove it by killing one of them, not a criminal. We will of course panic if this were to happen, Kira has never killed the innocent but it is clear that he'll kill anyone who will get in his way, need I pull up the death of the FBI agents again?" L nodded, agreeing with me. I turned toward the police man and blinked a few times before L continued.

"I really don't like the way he operates, it's not like Kira," said L resting his arms on his knees looking around Task Force, or the three people present. "In the past he has avoided killing innocent people, with the exception of those trying to catch him-as Ebony pointed out. Anyway, if we can capture one Kira, he could provide us with a lot on insight on how to find the other one. Mr. Yagami, I would like to ask your permission to ask your son to cooperate with us on this investigation." Atomic bomb, the prototype is dropped. The real bomb was probably going to be dropped when we prove Light is Kira, something about him and the air around him isn't right. Prepare to have your clothes fused to your skin people! See, I'm funny _and_ educational. The Atomic bomb in Japan during World War II did melt clothes into people's skin, and caused a bunch of death and cancer, but it's not cool to make fun of cancer, there's nothing to laugh about there.

"If you want my son to join the task force does that mean you no longer suspect him of being Kira?" asked the man with graying hair. I looked at the father with sad eyes, the hope in them about to be crushed. I handed him my spiral, I had darkened a few numbers, to me his likelihood of him being Kira was around 8%. I needed to see his eyes again, while he explained this Kira, if there was pride it was staged, he wanted us to think there was another Kira, and he was Kira. If it was frustration, well we're not moving anywhere in that investigation.

"That's after the tapes. You have a smart son Mr. Yagami, both Ryuzaki and I find that he could help us whether or not he's Kira. In fact, if he is Kira the chances of him trying to detour the investigation while L is alive are slim, not to mention me the unspoken threat." I watched as his face fell, expected. "Also I would like to point out that I think that this new Kira is a female, in fact I'm 60% sure." I bit the inside of my bottom lip, getting up and getting a piece of watermelon from the kitchen. I was instructed before they came to not show them the audio, not until _everyone_-meaning Light- was in the hotel room. It was a drag really, I mean I worked hard on that dub removal, even if it was mediocre, at best.

"I don't see why I should say no if my son wants to cooperate. Tell me you two, what are the chances of there being another Kira?" L and I looked at each other, we never talked about the chances, it was well over fifty. I shrugged and looked toward the ceiling. I suppose I should be proud I was on par with the detective, but I knew a certain blonde wouldn't be so happy about it, so my lips are sealed, for now.

"I say it's about 68 to 73%, but that's without sleep, I can give you a more accurate number after a nap," I said smiling as I closed my eyes and laid my arm over my eye. I popped the rest of the cubed pink fruit into my mouth. Note to self: ask for more Watermelon and maybe some Grapefruit.

"I have to agree with the higher end of Ebony's deduction, it's over 70%," said L, the clank of glassware ringing through the room. "However, please don't tell him this latest Kira is a fake. I don't want him to know that yet. I want it to seem as if we're chasing the same Kira." I rolled my eyes under my eyelids. Well duh. Half of our reasoning for bringing him here was because we wanted validation. Telling anyone this would result in disaster, but hey we're all…co-workers here right?

"We want him to figure it out for himself for multiple reasons. The first is to help validate our hunch, and the second to prove his deductive reasoning, his performance with the notes with L was what I expected, of him if he were Kira, knowing that there were three, not that there was a fourth because Kira never did make one." I yawned my mind becoming foggy as I fell asleep. Oops, someone spilled the beans didn't she?

I opened my eyes and lifted my head, putting my hands under my head. I didn't even have to say a word I was bored, my mind in a glob of unfinished thoughts and fantasies of how Light would react to me being here. I honestly hoped he would fake a freak-out and I could call him out on it and make him mad. I wasn't going to make fun of his last name-I'm a gay- because I felt like it would be too cliché. A crème pie to the face would just be a waste, so I was deadpanning here. I bent my knees and put my feet on the couch feeling a little bad that I had taken up an entire couch, and by the streaming sunlight coming through the window it was the afternoon now.

"Afternoon Ebony," said Matsuda happily. I looked at him and smiled, I was getting creative with my bored outlets, and Matsuda provided opportunities, he was unpredictable. We played games, normally twenty questions, sometimes chess, but I always won, I felt like Near, bonus! Well, I did until I played a game with L, and he beat me, well can't win them all.

"Hey Matsuda what's up?" I asked happily as the door opened. I didn't lift my head, instead I listened as Watari cleared his throat. I raised my eyebrows and blew my bangs from my eyes as I moved my hands and used them to build momentum. Then I sat up and looked at the older man in question. "Is something wrong Watari?" I asked frowning at the serious expression the handler, ok he was always wore a serious expression, but at the man I was looking at was more serious than normal.

"Light Yagami is on his way," said Watari. I stretched my arms above my head, my arm popping my shoulder. I raised an eyebrow-or tried to unsuccessfully- and scratched my head, searching for it under my tangled hair. I said that this was going to be interesting, my boredom was going to vanish. I laid back down smiling to myself. Watari handed me a piece of paper I looked at him and read the elegant careful hand writing. _I know you'll want a good night's rest, but I would like to talk to you before you go to sleep. L. _It was like the note before I came here. Needless to say if I thought the note from Wammy's was a fake, here was my proof that it wasn't. The only difference between this note and the other was that I didn't get the devil's stare from getting this small slip of paper. I looked at the old man and nodded. The door opening again as I heard two sets of footsteps. I heard everyone else in the room walk toward the sounds. I held my finger to my lips, smiling as Matsuda who nodded before turning to Light, and possibly his father.

There was an exchange, L formally thanking the young adult for helping in the investigation, and Light being the "perfect" guy-more like perfectly fake in my opinion-he was shook L's hand returning the thankful gesture. Everyone then gave out their aliases. I sat up after Light made a joke, that L replied to seriously, asking if he should take on his dad's alias. I gave up on jokes with L a long time ago Light, trust me. He gets them, it's just he only chose to respond to them in a joking manner when there was nothing serious going on, meaning almost never!

"And seeing how we're on the topic of aliases," I said pushing myself up onto my knees draping my arms over the back of the couch, studying Light's careful eyes slightly widen as my sudden appearance, "I'm still Ebony, Ryuzaki wanted me to take an alias while visiting him. Now Ryuzaki, do you mind if I tell the second youngest member of Task Force what we need him to do?" I closed my eyes and smiled, my hair covering my left eye.

"I don't see why you can't," he replied walking over to his chair and crouching on the seat. I nodded and jumped over the back of the couch, falling on the floor. Really? I can only be cat-woman while hyper beyond belief, fine! I really need to get in shape anyways I lay/sit in my chair goofing off. At Wammy's I normally got my hours worth of exercise running from a chocolate crazed blonde. Alright he wasn't crazed, he just thought I was annoying, fair enough.

I picked myself up, hooking my thumbs into my pocket, reading the question in his eyes. I scratched the back of my head and clicked my tongue. Light was scowling slightly, his jaw locking. He wasn't happy, that pie idea was starting to look like it would be a nice comic relief. Then again, I wasn't sure what would happen if I did. I suppose it's a good thing I restrained myself.

"Now business time, I think I have the right to assume you saw the Sakura TV incident last night and we have come tapes collected from the TV station, we need you to evaluate them and tell us what thoughts you already have on the case." I lead him to a chair in front of the TV, where we already had the taped lined up in numerical order. I picked the first one up and stuck it in the VCR, man who used these things still?

"Light, for security reasons you won't be able to take notes, and all materials must remain here," added L looking at the two of us as I walked into kitchen and got an apple from the fridge, tossing the fruit up in the air and catching it. I shined the fruit on my dark red t-shirt, the sleeves reaching my elbows, I loved these shirts, the coolness of a t-shirt mixed in with the warmth of a long-sleeve shirt. It was perfect!

"I understand, but I have one question," said Light looking around the room. I took a bite of the fruit and tilted my head to the side at the glare I was being given. "What's Ebony doing here? I mean I understand that she's your cousin Ryuzaki, but why get her involved?" I smiled because I'm freaking awesome that's why. I turned to L and shrugged to him as I walked over to the couch, I had generously given Light my chair, I liked that chair. I sat, legs crossed, in the center.

"I invited her here to help in the investigation. Her deductive skills are exceptionally high and she's proven to be a helpful member, when she's actually acting productive," said L truthfully glaring at me to go along with the last comment. I smiled wider and put my head set on, as I greeted the players in Matt's created Call of Duty room. "We will begin now if there are no more questions." There was a beep as L took his seat across from me.

I didn't react as my laptop had white letters streaming across the screen as I turned around the corner and shot someone's avatar in the head. I looked at L and shrugged, he had asked about Light's reaction and I could only say that his reaction was justifiable, I was a convincible idiot. I couldn't actually tell him my exact thoughts at this moment, too many words and I was really curious how L was getting these words on my screen without anyone else noticing. _I also don't think shooting that guy's head off was necessary._ I smiled and shook my head, pushing the microphone from my face and looked at the detective.

"That's the idea Ryuzaki, it's either shoot or be shot. He's probably respawned by now and is looking for me. Ah crap!" I pulled my microphone back down to my face and pressed the talk button smiling as I called out to my killer. "Nice one Aka, you better watch your back though Kage is coming for you." Normally only my team could hear this, but when Matt's voice blared in my ears saying that there was no way I was going to have one up on him. "Crap, you're going to play for real, guys on my team, we're going to die."My voice was over exaggerating the devastation that was being killed…no scratch that totally murdered by Matt. I was smiling like an idiot as the video Light was watching was talking about the proof that that Kira was in fact Kira. Light's shoulders were relaxed as he listened in a hunched over position. I jumped as a grenade blew up my avatar. I frowned and shot Matt in the head, cheering as he expressed how proud he was at my brutality. I learned from the master, and we've been playing for years.

The video finished, L and I looked at each other as we both walked over to Light. I leaned against the wall next to the TV as L not caring much about personal space leaned close to the brunette as he asked, "So, what do you make of this Light, have you come to any conclusions?" his eyes were wide, the bags more evident under his eyes that way. I saw Light turn toward the detective, his eyes showing distrust….no hate. He stood up, pressing his hand on the armrest. I leaned forward slightly and tried to justify his hate. Unless he knew this was both a test and conformation-which was possible-then this only raised his guilt by a fraction of a percent.

"It's hard to say for sure but there maybe another person out there with Kira's power," he started. Power, that's a way I never thought of Kira's murders, something supernatural. I thought power in a sense of ability but the way it was said, the way Light Yagami sculpted the word, it made me think of it as a supernatural thing. Mr. Yagami was wondering the same thing, I casually looked at the father as he asked the question, needing clarification. "At the very least I'd say that this tape was not created by the Kira we're familiar with. It's extremely out of character for him to use these kinds of victims for his killings, and since we've established he needs a name and face to kill it makes you wonder how he killed that detective and those two officers right outside the TV station."

"It is the same," said Aizawa in shock. My gaze shifted toward the three other members of Task Force who were looking at Light in shock. Complete unadulterated shock shone in their eyes. I bit the inside of my lip, I needed more information. If Kira only truly needed a face, why only kill those who we give the correct identity to? It was clear to me at this point that Kira wanted to cleanse the world of all evil, but he was also aware we were looking for him.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, as I stood there thinking, trying to see through Light's hair. That darkness in his eye, that dark secret, I needed to know what that was. It seemed to push its way higher in his appearance, making it more noticeable. He might as well have been walking around with a banner saying "I have a secret," or…"Please interrogate me on my deepest fears and secrets." I blinked and brought my thumb to my mouth, biting on it lightly.

"That's exactly how L – I mean Ryuzaki and Ebony said it," stuttered Matsuda. I then took the time to clap at a medium tempo, the attention then turned toward me. I had my eyes closed as I nodded, rubbing my eyes when I was done clapping. I needed another nap, yeah naps were nice.

"Well done Light, I actually thought you weren't going to figure that out after seeing the video only once, I had to watch it twice to be confident enough to say something like that out loud, normally I keep theory's to myself until I'm 30% sure about it." I then threw my apple core into the trash, putting my hands on the ground and used the wall to hold me up in a handstand.

"I think you're right though Light. We also think this is a work of a second Kira," said L bringing his thumb away from his mouth. Light then stepped away from my chair, I see an opening. I pushed off of the wall and ran like a bomb was about to explode on the spot I was just at. I smiled and jumped onto the chair, hanging my legs off of the side. My precious!

"So this was just another test?" he asked outraged. I leaned back, the world turning upside down as I habitually patted my stomach, showing my disappointment in the lack of fruit in my possession. I sighed and shook my head. No need to get your panties in a bunch Light, sheesh I mean you're a student shouldn't you be used to tests?

"If you come down to it we did, but this theory is so farfetched, we needed a third party to come to the same conclusion. The truth being, Ryuzaki and I think too much alike, if we were the only ones to say this, it doesn't have much leverage. Seeing how you say there is Kira B as well, this can be taken more seriously," I said running my head through my hair.

"Couldn't have said it better than myself thank you again Ebony. Now back to business, first we must focus on stopping this copy-cat. From what we've seen he sympathizes with Kira but clearly lacks his sophistication. I think he may even be willing to obey the original. If so we could lure him into a trap, by sending our own message from the real Kira," said L as I had excused myself and cut up three kiwi's and put them in a bowl half filled with grapes. I cringed at the use of the pronouns here, I mean I was super awesome and made the video sound female. I'm sure if I was Matt we could indentify said girl, but hey I'm not Matt now am I?

I walked in Light, agreeing completely with this plan, I had no part in it other than listening to it in the wee hours in the night. I also didn't comment on the pronoun usage, and I was wondering why we weren't discussing the fact I had taken majority of the dub off, enough to tell the gender of this Kira, L had his reasons for keeping this secret, but I was going to stand by my pronoun until told differently. "Oh, and Light," L and I said in sync, "I would like you to play the role of Kira."

"Me? As Kira?" Light asked in shock, his voice going a little flat in my opinion. I narrowed my eyes and saw a flash of recognition. The heck? Granted we said his name, and though his voice sported fake shock, I'd like to point out that there was no shock in his eyes. He was fake! Now, I know that this may…no it is hypocritical of me but in a way it isn't but I hate fake people. Sure I faked my smartness at Wammy's but I was merely demonstrating that I didn't want to be L, then again here I was in Japan.

I would like to admit here that I hate him, his eyes and his words contradicted more times than they were in sync. The feelings he portrayed were faked, forced well rehearsed. The laid back nature he seemed to radiate was covering up the cautious observer who was crafting words into sentences that didn't have any heart whatsoever in them. Mr. Perfect was fake, a liar, cheat, I also admit that it is because of these things I suspect him of being Kira. In fact, 3 out of my 8% was because of these hunches stated above.

"Yes, you're the only one I can think of that would be able to pull something like this off. At any rate, we don't have time to waste. Do you think you can script a message from Kira in time to be aired on this evening's national news?" asked L calmly. I bit into my Kiwi as I thought about this. I looked at Light's profile, fully claiming my chair, instant messaging Near.

_**Kage: **__N my old friend, I think I finally found someone I hate. _There was a few moments, me the hyper but agreeable person who doesn't hate even the disagreeable Mello hates someone. This deserved a banner people, it's not every day this happens. I've never said these words out loud, but there is a first time for everything right?

_**N: **__I thought you said that you gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. I understand if you can't, but could you elaborate? _ I shrugged and moved the chess piece that went with the game we were playing that went along with the chat. I stuck a grape in my mouth and paused before chewing it as Light took a seat on the couch, pausing to look at me and my reclaim to my seat. I childishly stuck my tongue out at him.

"Shuffle your feet lose your seat Light. Mine now, I will sleep in this chair- no I will handcuff myself to this beautiful piece of furniture if I have to," I declared pointing to the ceiling and laughed as I put a steadying hand on the laptop and smiled at Light, narrowing my eyes in a challenge.

"You're right. If I wanted that seat I should've stayed in it. I'll keep that in mind for later," he replied to my challenge with a fake chuckle. That's it! I wasn't going to prank anyone but he pushed me! Though, maybe I should push the childish envelope. If he thinks I'm immature, then his views on my intelligence may go down, then I can sneak attack him! I turned back to my laptop and replied.

_**Kage: **__I don't know how to. I guess it's because I can't see his flaw. Aka has his obsession over video games that tunes him out of reality, M has his over stellar emotions that explode out and change at the slightest inconvenience, you act detached so far from your emotions that you can't look at it from that stand point and I am too distracted, childish, unfocused, unmotivated, you get the picture. This guy….he's too freaking perfect on the outward appearance. Whenever I read him, what I see and hear are two totally different things. He's a fluent liar._

_**N: **__So, do you suspect him of being K? _

_**Kage**__: Yes. _I instinctively closed the lid as Light walked over. I looked up at him through my hair my face kept in a neutral expression, I hated this expression, too hard to maintain. It was Near's turn anyway though he was probably building the great wall of legos, it might take him a while. Light looked down at me, L who was sitting back at the coffee table was watching us intently. A part of him expected a fight, the tension in the air wasn't exactly kept on the down low. The rest of Task Force caught wind of this and soon everyone was watching us.

"Yes Light?" I asked calmly. "You know staring at me isn't catching Kira." Light smiled at this, admitting I was right. Does he always have to say that? Grow some balls tell me I'm wrong. Though, I would argue and protest such an assumption, he still needs balls. I was the ballsiest person here, I actually stand up and talk to L like he's a person, not just a super smart detective. I opened the lid of my laptop and took my move in my game of chess.

"I was just wondering why you weren't over there," Light finally said. I sighed and pulled up a separate document that had words, all copied from memory on the screen. Alright, I was caught. I always had something like this on the laptop, so when I'm gaming or whatever and L leans over all I had to do was minimize the game or whatever and have that document up. Bam! Ebony is a hard worker right there, totally. It's not like I was trying to make the perfect Kira-Sim on the Sims to kill over and over…right? Light read it over and then looked at me in question. I put another piece of my fruit as I looked at the college student to answer the question.

"Read the first sentences 'The tapes confiscated from Sakura TV were not from the Kira that we've been chasing, but instead of a copy-cat. This opens speculation can anyone kill people the way Kira does, or is it a power that is only present in certain people?' This particular file I watched Ryuzaki type up on his laptop last night, He and I are more alike than just panda eyes, we think alike. I assure you I'm listening should discussion arise, I however know all twenty eight criminals Kira had killed last night and circumstances of their deaths." Light's eyes widened slightly as he straightened his back and looked at me. I turned my head to the side. "Is something wrong Light?"

"N-no, it's just that you were specific on how many criminals Kira had killed. If I didn't know better I'd say that you're him." He passed a chuckle, forcing it, his eyes narrowing as he opened them, looking straight at me as if saying "oh no this is trouble." 10%...maybe even more than that I wasn't sure at this point.

"That's impossible for the past four months she has been in my constant watch, yesterday she stayed up throughout the night and helped me on the investigation," defended L on my behalf. Light turned toward him and then faced me again. I smiled innocently, then chuckled to myself. I was going to like this game.

"Ebony one Light zero," I whispered happily as I looked over the chess game again and moved a knight. Light insisted that there was a reason why I knew the specifics of a number. I smiled as I pulled up the de-dubbed file and stood up walking over to the table, leaving my laptop half closed on the table. I put my hands in my pockets and looked over Task Force. I pointed to Light's dad with one hand scratching my cheek with another. "Mr. Yagami, which file are you reading?"

"It's about Arata Yamamoto," said Mr. Yagami. I nodded and turned to Light, letting him know that he might want to read along with the rest of Task Force who were now gathered around the chief who now had the file opened. My chin lifted itself and pointed toward the ceiling and tapped my finger lightly tabbed the skin, this was also a little bit of a challenge, this man's file was one of those I skimmed.

"'Arata Yamamoto, age 34. At 0300 hours the inmate was found dead in his bunk, left hand clutching his chest. Cause of death has been deemed a heart-attack. Yamamoto was convicted for the murder of a 23 year old prostitute. He was slated for 15 years, and was on his third year when the heart attack struck him.' Do I need to continue or are you good?" I asked looking at Light smiling as I picked up my laptop and looked at L, showing him what I was planning. He simply nodded as Light finally looked up at me.

"That was near perfect Ebony, why didn't anyone tell me you had a photographic memory," he said his voice a trying to hide the shock, it was evident in his eyes. I didn't answer him, I simply looked at him with a gaze that said "my memory isn't the only reason why I'm here." I smiled as I played the female voice I had de-dubbed. This time I had everyone's eyes on me, Matsuda smiling. He stood up and looked like he was about to explode from happiness, we needed confetti when it came to discoveries like these.

"Before you start cheering Matsuda, no we can't match the voice pattern, this is an armature job at best taking the dub off. This does show us that Kira B is female. To answer your question Light, I don't like to show off, and I really don't like to have the label of 'genius,'" I said with a shrug as I moved the chair next to L. Everyone else took their seats as Light walked over and showed L his Kira script.

"It's fine, but could you delete the part 'you are free to kill L' I will die," said L I chuckled as Light said that he might've overdone it. Really Light, you can only pull this act for so long, and L and I will be there to watch you screw up. I will also work on my evil laugh, I have that annoying cough that cuts me short, really I didn't want to pass out as I gloated.

I sat back as Light started reading the file that I had quoted, frowning as he read it over. I sat sideways in my chair and my boredom peaked. I looked toward the ceiling, trying to come up with a solution for my boredom. I then shifted upside down held myself up by my hands. I felt my sleepy eyes widen as I saw the key to end my boredom.

There was a gleam of plastic, and coming out of the clear plastic was a dark brown cord, that cord was connected to the leather shoe of none other than Light Yagami. I "dropped" my bowl of fruit. "Gosh dang-it!" I cried as I slid off of my chair to "pick up" the fruit, L looking at me curiously as I continued with my mischief. "Excuse me, pardon. Aizawa could you please pick up your-thank-you." I gently grabbed hold of the tightly wound shoelace and tied his shoes to the leg of the couch he was sitting on. I moved toward Matsuda and tied his shoes together, I simply couldn't resist.

I climbed back up to my chair, content with the chaos that was sure to ensue, only then did a get the best idea in the world known to man. Was on a roll that day with the shoe laces, it's not my fault these guys didn't take L's policy on shoe ware, none at all. I walked toward the bathroom and closed the door, leaning against the wall as I pulled out a glass of water I had hidden and slowly poured the water into the toilet as if I was really using the bathroom. I then stopped and slowly opened the door, creeping along the floor again. Cue Mission Impossible theme!

I barely dared to breath as I tied Aizawa's and Mr. Yagami's shoes to each other, holding back laughter as I went back to the clean bathroom and flushed returning to the main room just in time, Task Force was packing up their folders and what had you. I was smiling like a maniac, the smile that L, at the least, had paired with the notion that I was up to no good. He's not called the "World's Greatest Detective" for nothing here people.

Papers were flying everywhere as Matsuda took a step right into the table falling right into it. Light turned around just in time to fall back into his chair, facing the wrong way smashing his nose into the fabric. The two remaining people standing tried to go different ways only to slip on the rug and fall face first onto the floor. I rolled off of the chair in my fit of laughter. Tears streamed out of my eyes, as I played it over, and over in my head.

"That was golden! My best plan since coming to Japan!" I yelled throwing my arms up in triumph as Task Force sorted out the situation I had caused onto them. Should've tied an overcomplicated knot in them, then they'd be my prisoners forever! "Come-on Ryuzaki, wasn't that not brilliant? Faking the need to go to the bathroom was genius!"

"Yes, that was a nice touch," he said putting his fork in his mouth watching as Task Force looked at him wide-eyed. I busted out in laughter again, laying back down on the floor, my stomach starting to cramp from all of this laughter. Facial expressions are priceless!

"Ryuzaki, I mean no disrespect, but is complimenting this kind of behavior going to lead her to do it again?" asked the eldest person in the room- Watari wasn't in the room. I looked at him and shook my head as I flipped over onto my stomach and put my elbows on the floor, cupping my chin in my palms.

"On the contrary Mr. Yagami, even if I were to get handed a punishment I would just find a way to get out of it and then I'll only come up with more and more destructive plans. Do we have to go back to the pool incident?" Actually I wouldn't mind that, it was fun to pull the emotionless board that was L into the water.

"She's right, we've learned this already." L said in a clam monotone as the rest of Task Force walked out of the hotel. I sat back down as Watari walked in. "Ebony, we have a few things to discuss." I nodded, I didn't need the obvious statement. I sat up from the floor as I hopped back into my chair, having little idea what was about to happen.

"Alright, shoot I don't know how much longer I have until I fall asleep where I sit," I said sitting sideways rubbing my eyes yawning as Watari handed me a bowl of grapes. "Thank-you." I popped the red grapes like pills as L put his thumb in his mouth and watched me for a second.

"What do you think of Light? And please, don't hold back any opinions, you won't be judged." I felt my face go from defensive to a somber expression, he had me. I might not act like it, I actually cared what Task Force thought of me, sure I tortured them with my antics, I made sure to be super nice to them for a week or two afterwards. Saying my opinion on anything and everything in a respective manner and only giving them my theories on the subject at hand, totally not annoying. I stared at the corner of the table and in fast forward motion played over everything that happened today and other times I've seen him.

"After today, leaning toward 20%, I was watching him the entire time, majority of this increase is because his reaction to you and myself. When he stood up there was gestures of anger, but I read into it more as fear than anything else. After I told him the exact number of criminals, the amount of shock was more than what I expected, like he also knew how many when there are too many files on the table to count. Other than that it was the overall feel I felt around him. Honestly, I hate him, he's too perfect."

" I see, I have to agree that my suspicion has also gone up upon hearing this, I think we should average our suspicions. That would lead out suspicion to be about 13%. Thank you Ebony, please sleep well." I nodded and walked into my bedroom for the week and collapsed on my belly, sleep is like heaven let me tell you.

* * *

**I really have nothing to say here. Wait! I do, I am a proud Band Nerd, and where I live if you're in the band you are in **_**both**_** marching band and concert band, so from August to November-ish I will become very scarce here and everywhere else really. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviews, alerts, favorite, and reads this story, you all rock my socks off. I enjoy you're feedback, or if you simply want to say "Hi" I will still respond, I don't mind. So here are the responses to my reviews. :3 (even though this time it's only one XD) **

**To Nizuna Fujieda: **_ Yay I made someone's day! That makes my day, it's the small things in life right? The other day I was excited because I found out we had legit coffee cups here. I mean the kind of excited that you are bouncing in your chair excited. Sorry, off topic. I'm glad you like it, thanks for reading :D. _


	12. Chapter 12 Apples Just Don't Disappear

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any other copyrighted material referenced. Ebony is my character and I know she is insane. **

**Chapter Twelve Alright, Apples Just Don't Disappear**

The room was quiet, too quiet. Like the kind of quiet in horror movies where the monster jumps out and kills someone, thus scaring the pee out of the viewer. L and I were on two different sides of the room our genius minds both hard at work on our own thing. I had my laptop as I listened to the response of the Second Kira to us only a couple of days after we played Kira, I mean Light's message to her. The events played through my mind again, and again. It was almost _too_ easy to interpret, L even commented at one point that the entire situation was so stupid he didn't know what to do. Though it was at a different point in the investigation, looking back I found that it applied to the entire investigation since Sakura TV.

_We were all gathered around L laptop, I had just gotten a new apple and my position was sideways in the chair next to L, nibbling on the skin of the fruit as the video played. As expected Kira B was eternally grateful of Kira's, I mean Light's "fake" message-I need to stop making this mistake really. My chewing ceased when the copy-cat Kira said "I don't think you have the eyes." It was code, it was clear as day I mean, those words should be in rainbow font to make sure we got the message. What? I find that rainbow colors attract the eyes more so than any other color, mainly because rainbows have all the colors._

_Looking at the evidence presented to us before this, meaning the first set of tapes sent in, the second Kira so far wasn't known to be discrete. Light's sudden nervousness at that didn't help his testimony that he was innocent. Yeah, I know lawyer jargon, read a law book before the trial of the guy that killed my parents. He was looking at everyone, reading our expressions. Mine was amused, focusing my eyes back on the screen._

"_What's this 'having the eyes' mean? Is it a code?" asked Aizawa calmly, more calmly that Light might've managed. I noisily crunched into my apple in thought, and it was almost as awesome as Mello making his chocolate snap distinctly when he takes a bite. I closed my eyes and leaned back on the arm rest of my chair, studying the bite I had made in the fruit. I shrugged and looked at the afro-man upside down. _

"_Possibly," I said through the fruit, pausing to chew and swallow. Blood was rushing to my face, making it warm. "However this is the Second Kira, she could very well mean something with the eyes, like the power that Kira possesses could enhance one's eyesight." I was looking at L, his eyes were wide both of us were nervous, I was surprised I sounded as calm as I did. "The eyes" could that be the reason Ukita died? I stood up and started walking into the kitchen, taking another bite of my apple. I would tell you what my goal for the journey was, but I never actually arrived there, so I think it's kinda pointless._

_I was only halfway when the word Shinigami was said carelessly. No, it was meant to be said, the thing was Kira B didn't know that we already knew something about these beings. I froze in my step, lightly setting my foot down, not making a sound, as I looked at the screen, my eyes wide. L screamed, throwing his hands up and falling over as I dropped my apple. I felt my knees give out, and I fell down too, sitting on the ground my legs making a "W" hair falling in my eyes. _

_My mind was spinning, surely Shinigmi-death gods whatever they're called- didn't exist. If they did, why were they implied, by Kira B, to be processions? If such a being did exist, wouldn't they just kill off people indiscriminately? Right, that means Kira-both of them-have power over these beings of death. This is still hypothetically implying they existed. The question then is, how did Kira get his grubby mitts on one? More importantly, how do we prove-or disprove-their existence? I also wouldn't mind having one under my power either. Though, what I would I do with it? Yeah, maybe it's better I didn't get one._

"_Shinigami….am I supposed to believe they actually exist?" asked the detective quietly. I found out that I was trembling, no way that could be right…right? There was some discussion around the two of us, debating whether or not that there actually was two Kiras. The main point being that both of them had decided to drop a hint about these beings, making it seem like it was in fact one person. Kira was devious, but making an alias, fake Kira, seemed out of his style. There would also be clues hidden in the messages simply because Kira thinks this is a game between him and us. No, we were right, there was still a distinct difference I was sure Kira would make a constant, the name of the being._

"_Listen to what he said, Kira B wants to meet Kira A. Also, she used the word 'Shinigami,' if my memory isn't faulty Kira A used the term 'gods of death' in suicide notes he had inmates write. It's a subtle difference but looking at the difference between Kira A and Kira B, Kira A wouldn't want us to know the actual name. However, I thought that Kira meant he considered himself a god of death, not that they actually existed. I suppose this is still a possibility, but there is more to the situation now." I was staring at the floor, numbly patting the floor for my apple, what a waste of good fruit._

"_Yes, I agree with Ebony, this copy-cat stated that she did want to meet Kira, I actually think that is her ultimate goal. If that happens, we're going to have a harder time to find and catch Kira. However, I am not completely buying into the fact that these beings exist. For all we know both Kira's are using this as a ruse to confuse us," said L not back in his seat as I stood back up, looking for my apple, it seemed to have disappeared. This had my full attention now, fruit just doesn't disappear, nor does it get up and walk away. I replayed what I remembered of dropping it in my head and then being the Wammy's kid I am figured out how far it would've rolled and looked here, again nothing._

"_I think your right, he's acting out of an interest of Kira," said Light I looked up from my apple search in defeat. It seems that we live in a world where people have the power to kill people with only a name and a face and fruit disappears. Next I'll wake up and look out my window to behold a rainbow polka-dot Godzilla. "The word 'Shinigami' could be a reference to their killing power, rather than the beings themselves as Ebony suggests. Saying 'we can confirm out identities by showing our Shinigami to each other' probably means they can confirm their identities by showing how they kill." I crossed my arms and bit the inside of my cheek, he had a better point than I, and right now the only proof I had was the thoughts that ran through my head. My gut told me to stand my ground, even if my mind was screaming at me that Light's idea made more sense._

"_That's it," said L calmly. I looked at him curiously and listened intently. "Based on their messages, we can assume the word 'Shinigami' must hold some other meaning that only the real Kira and the second Kira are aware of. Now we just need to convince this copy-cat we know what that is." After Light interjected with the makings of a response plan L and I looked at each other. I slightly shook my head. Honestly, I didn't know what to do. L's eyes suggested the same thing. I mean how do we sculpt words to make Kira B reveal what she knew about the Shinigami without making it too obvious. "We should leave this to the two Kiras. I imagine the Second Kira is probably quite satisfied with the current situation now that she's received a televised response. She sent a message to get Kira's attention and as far as she knows she has it. There is also that word she used one that only the two of them would understand. We will arrange to have this broadcast displayed on Sakura 6 o'clock news." I zoned out after this, my attention looking for my apple again, slowly walking around the hotel room almost illogically._

My search was fruitless, literally. I frowned, it had just disappeared, how in the world does that happen? It was perfectly ripened and a beautiful shade of red. It was one of the best apples I've ever said and it was gone! Why world, why? I shook my head as the message finished for the tenth time and I leaned back as L was holding up tiny baggies of evidence we had gotten from the envelopes that the tapes came in. From what I could see, and being across the room let me tell you it's not much. To me those tiny baggies looked to be empty, but seeing how L was holding each of them to the light I had to assume they had something-like hair-in there.

I set my laptop down and picked up the diary letter Kira had sent us within seven days of the tape. It was clear to everyone at this point that this Kira was an idiot. Having the ability to act like one on my own, I was able to see the difference between an act and true ignorance. This was at the same time well thought out, it still wasn't as…advanced at the Kira we know and want to catch, but it was still pretty clear how we were supposed to interoperate this. It was clear she thought this was a good idea, but the reality of the matter was, she normal in terms of intelligence, something that we could see through like a glass door.

Back to the paper in my hands, the Copy-Cat Kira wanted the attention to be on the Tokyo dome on the thirtieth, however there are meetings in Aoyama and Shibuya that caught my eye, as well as Light's and L's. This was again one of those moments I was actually thinking this Kira might be a challenge. Sending the youngest members of Task Force, excluding me leaving Matsuda and Light, out into the field on the day prescribed, May 22nd, absolutely nothing happened, proving the fact that Aoyama wasn't the focus which was against our deduction. There wasn't much to say about the outing, it was like any other teenaged hang-out group. Like the most interesting thing _to_ watch was Light schmoozing, and that was boring because I knew it was fake as plastic fruit!

Then after that Kira B's messages stopped. Well they did after saying that she done looking for Kira, and we came to the conclusion that Kira B had actually met Kira. Miss Copy-cat was determined to find Kira, the announcement saying that she was going to stop didn't make sense. The determination that was there didn't add up when it suddenly died down in one video The main clue toward the meeting was the craftsmanship of the words were carefully weaved, like Kira was the one telling her to talk, the overall tone was different.. The message didn't sound like something Light would send, bringing his suspicion down, yet again. The entire situation didn't sound like something Light would do, that was frustrating.

"Anything new Ryuzaki?" I asked impatiently my mind having nothing else to review as I hung upside-down. L looked up from his work and shrugged as he picked up another baggie. Sure his back was still to us, but it's been silent, minus him muttering that it was in fact hair in the baggies, for five minutes. If he didn't have a plan I did. The only problem with _my_ plan was…well it involved honey, a skateboard and feathers, oh and a recording of a chicken clucking. It would achieve nothing but make Light mad at me, but it was a plan wasn't it?

"Mr. Yagami, if I die within the next few days, you're son is Kira. Another hair," he said almost too casually. Everyone was outraged by this, well almost everyone, I was indifferent. Being me, I don't plan too far ahead, it takes the fun and surprise out of life. I live for the surprise, the entertainment, that's why I was here. Wammy's became too predictable, same thing day in and day out. Here, I'm learning something new every day. This was a puzzle with pieces I've never seen before.

I sat back and said nothing, letting the detective speak for himself, there wasn't much as the hair analysis report came back. L pointed out that there was only one real suspect, so it was safe to say, after said suspect had one half of what was needed to kill him, that we should be a little on edge. Ya know, in case he was Kira. In other words, Light was our suspect, he had L's face now all he needed was his name and if Light was in fact Kira, L would die.

"I'm sorry, but I have to interject, if L dies," I said holding my finger up, avoiding the gaze of everyone in the room, "I'm going back home. I will be working on the case that way, finding the solid evidence I need to convict Light, I won't be able to do that with everyone looking at me expecting me to drop the atomic bomb on this case. The honest to god truth is, if everyone is giving me the looks your giving me right now, I won't be able to break the news to the world, couldn't bear to see your faces, I'm sorry."

"I would be doing something similar if I were you Ebony, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Now, I have some outside matters to attend to, Ebony will you help Watari set up some cameras and microphones?" I nodded and bounced out of the room after him. "I'm almost positive that a Misa Amane is the second Kira. The hair, we had some tested while I looked at it, matched her DNA. We're going to have to contain her." I nodded as I pulled my shoes on and shrugged on a light jacket, putting a handful of strawberries and grapes in each of the pockets.

"I understand, I'm guessing that we'll be interrogating her from the hotel?" There was a nod in response to my question. I nodded, that means speakers were going to be involved. "Voice dub it is then. Also, will I have the opportunity to put my two cents in, I might be more successful at this than you, the whole 'female touch' thing going on." I put my hands on my hips as I smiled, still needed a cape. Maybe I should ask Watari for one.

"Yes, I see where you're coming from, I don't see why you shouldn't." I smiled as we exited the building. I slowly put my hands in my jacket pockets, nodding. The understanding L and I had, the ability we shared to be able to hold a conversation without really talking-I mean come-on we're almost always on the same page-was sending me a red flag. That was the issue, always on the same page, he hasn't really seen me work independently.

He was testing me the entire time, I knew this too. At Wammy's House I hide every ounce of my intelligence in the classroom. My true genius came out in my pranks and simply how I interacted with other people. This was implication, if I were to act like I was at a normal intelligence here, then it puts people's lives at risk. Morally, I couldn't handle that knowing I could help. So, L had successfully trapped me in a situation to where I had no clue but to show off my true smarts, he wasn't the world's greatest detective for no reason.

"I know this doesn't need to be said, but Light's Kira as far as we know, right? I mean, all we need is a confession, or evidence right?" I looked at L as he nodded from the review mirror. I paused as the car stopped, letting L out at To-Oh to spend some time with Light while we got the holding cells ready. "Have fun Ryuzaki." I put my thumb to my mouth and gently bit on it like L did. Proof, now how do we go about getting it?

The possibility that Light was now Kira was higher than it ever was at this point, did I find the fact that Misa was his girl friend too convenient? Like the heart attack that brought me to the case to begin with, I thought that Mr. Perfect, wasn't too perfect. Sure he made suspicion go down, but it was his not-so-subtle expression changes I picked up on that had convinced me that he was Kira, L's reasons were his own. The way I looked at it, as long as we were on the same page on terms of his guilt it didn't matter how the geniuses got to the conclusions they did.

I listened as the tripod clicked into place, setting it in the front of the room gently as I checked the speakers on either side of the stand and gently ran my hands along the cold white painted wood looking for the wires I needed. I knelt down on the floor, a laptop a safe distance in case I lost my balance. I looked at the jacks and plugged them into a separate wire and then plugged that into the laptop. I picked up a tiny stage microphone and plugged the jack into the appropriate plug and asked if they could hear me in a gentle voice.

"Crystal clear!" came the dubbed voice of who I assumed was Matsuda. Closing one of my eyes from the volume I turned down the output of sound. I smiled, two down now all we needed was the video feed and room one was done, and room two and three hadn't been touched, yet. Picking up an extension wire I unplugged the microphone and walked to the center of the room, jumping onto the chair Watari was screwing into the ground. I held out my hands and held my breath, trying not to fall and crack my head open.

I then frowned, forgot the drill. I turned to jump off as Watari handed me his. I mumbled my thanks and popped a grape in my mouth as I looked upward and made a hole for a screw that would be used for a hook so that the microphone would hang from. This wasn't the hard part, that was going to be making sure the connection between the cameras was sound.

"Ebony I've been meaning to ask you, what was your reasoning to purposely fail the monthly assessments?" I paused my drilling and looked down at Watari as he started putting the straps in their respectful holes, someone was going for full restraint, poor Misa. I spit out the screws I was holding with my mouth and held them in my right hand palm as I used my index finger and thumb to put the wire in a hook. I jumped down and got a step ladder and started the process again, only in a different spot. I didn't look at the old man as I answered truthfully.

"The question test was too easy, you take one you've taken them all. The 'critical thinking' questions were also stupid to me personally. I bombed the multiple question test for the simple reason of it boring me, also Roger never looked at those answers. He looked at the written ones, the first test is a ruse, to simulate a tired mind. He wanted our concentration to be bogged down before asking the serious 'how would you react to this situation' questions," I said quietly as I put the drill on the small step on the step ladder and started putting the wire in the hook. "I always answered how the directions said 'truthfully and honestly' sure one could make a plan while sitting at a desk, but unless you're actually there you can't answer the question, and that's what I wrote down."

"I understand, did it ever occur to you that it was that answer we were looking for?" I shook my head slowly and paused again, holding the wire with my recessive hand, the same one that had the screws and looked at the old man. He had a slight smirk on his face, it radiated with pride. It was the smile a father would do if his child surpassed his expectations. "It was an intelligent answer, truthful as well. However Ebony, you didn't do that when we tested you for the first time, I honestly thought that you would be the one to take Near's spot as first." I frowned, Watari was one of the few at Wammy's who knew how smart I was. He said that he had high expectations, and that word made my blood boil.

"But I figured it out, I figured out the system. I was also quick friends with Matt, and I was working on gaining Mello's as well. I knew that wouldn't happen if I had done that. I also didn't want a test to tell me I was smart, I took cases on my own to prove to Roger that paper doesn't mean anything." I paused as I moved the ladder back again and screwed in the last hook. "My short attention got the better of me and I solved each case within two weeks, they were only kidnappings though, minor compared to this. I was surprised when I got the call, but now I'm pretty sure I know why I'm here, I won Roger."

"I have to admit, you've exceeded my expectations. Ebony, I must request that you reconsider being L's successor." I smiled at Watri and went back to work, feeding the wire in the hooks. That word was evil, the personification of that word. Having things expected of me made my stomach upset. That's one of the reasons why I didn't want to be L. The other was because let's face it, I'm not mature in the slightest. So, if I was going to openly say that I was going to be L, then I'd have to be put on medication or something to control myself. I of course wouldn't take it…unless it was bubblegum flavor, that is some good medicine if it's bubblegum flavored.

"I've actually thought about it while I was trying to get to sleep last night, after Ryuzaki and I had a little chat about what we thought about Misa being Kira B. My main focus is with everyone else who knows about Wammy's. I want the best person to replace L, and quite frankly I'm not it. I think Near and Mello, if the chocoholic can put aside his inferiority issue, can work together, they are the ones. Those two will solve any case they are handed, less discriminate than L himself. This is the first case I've actually taken seriously, and even still I'm goofing off." I sat down and started messing with the camera, setting the connection and securing it through my memory that came from watching Matt doing something similar at Wammy's.

"I understand, but you didn't decline the offer," he said as he picked up the duffle bag and the two of us left as I turned the mic on, leaving the light on, looking at the room as we moved walked outside. The sun felt good on my skin, my hair gently blown off of my shoulders. "Would you consider another case?" I shrugged as Watari took a call. "Yes, we're on our way."

"Maybe, there are a few conditions if I'm challenged personally or if the case is unusual." I saw Watari nod out of the corner of my eye and turn the car on as we moved back toward the hotel. I didn't argue, I was probably going to be sent to hook up more tech stuff. I was decent with this stuff, only because I read a "How to …. For Dummies" book about it, and Matt showed me once, three years ago.

Watari dropped me off at the hotel, telling me to finish the set up, that he had the next two rooms. I nodded and bounced to the hotel rooms we were occupying. The reason for the extra rooms was that L was going to get Light in observation, we needed to know if he was put into custody whether or not the killings stopped. If they did, case closed and I could go home and relax. To be honest, I considered Wammy's my home, and it's been over five months since I've been there. I missed pranking Roger once a week. The first step was kinda easy, hooking up a TV to the laptop, the next part was tricky. I typed in the code I had memorized by heart and the first step was over.

"Afternoon Ebony!" Matsuda cheered as I walked in and grabbed my chair, letting it screech as I dragged it across the floor to the main room where there was the laptop I had hooked the camera up to. I typed in a code and set looked at the picture, chair still empty. "How are you today?" I looked up and smirk. Remember that "plan" I had a few thousand words ago, yeah I never said I didn't set it up did I?

"I'm just peachy, speaking of peaches would you get me one from the fridge Matsu? Pretty please?" I asked with the world's cheesiest grin. Matsuda nodded and walked into the kitchen. I sat on my knees looking over the back of the chair as I watched the honey dump on the young man's head. He exclaimed in shock as the white feathers cascaded down and covered him.

"Ebony, what did you do?" asked Aizawa as the chicken man walked in, the peach joining him in the chicken club. I laughed and closed my eyes to prevent the tears from falling. I heard him blow a few feathers out of his mouth. I leaned back and rolled off of my chair. My head might be throbbing, but this was still hilarious.

"Oh my god that was golden, honey glazed golden!" I said gasping for air. As I pulled myself into a seated position and took the peach from Matsuda's hands. Sure L was going to get charged with his dry cleaning, but it was worth it. Not only did Matsuda make a good chicken, he was also a good sport. The chickenized man spend the next five minutes prancing around the room like a chicken, my stomach was hurting when the call that Misa was in the chair was heard.

I turned and looked over my shoulder, and sure enough a blonde was sitting blindfolded and bound to the chair I had set up not even an hour ago. All laughter and fun stopped, it was business time. I pulled myself to my feet as I crouched in the chair in an L style, pulling at the sleeves of my aqua top, making them cover my elbow. So, this was Kira B?

She was actually kind of cute, blond hair with two strands on either side of her head pulled into pig tails, even in the strait jacket one could tell she cared enough about her appearance to be on a constant diet, not wanting to gain a single pound. I wasn't here to be assessing one's lifestyle choices, I was here to catch a killer.

"Misa Amane, it's nice to somewhat meet you." I had a microphone near my mouth, I was speaking calmly and at a speed everyone could understand me. "I can't give you my name on the count we're 87% positive you are Kira B, so I will be known as E, unless you can come up with another name."

"Kira? I'm not Kira!" said the blonde defensively her head perking up. I shook my head and sighed, it was going to be a long interrogation, but her dunce answer was enough for people to believe that she was Kira B more-so than she was a few moments ago. I pulled my hair back and loosely tied it in a pony tail.

"Misa, I said that you were Kira B, the copy cat. The fake, phony, cheap knock-off. I think you get the picture. All we need is to know a few things, and I promise that I will pull all the strings in your favor as I can here." Like I said, morals ran strong in me. I believed some people deserved the death sentence, she didn't. As far as I was concerned she killed people to serve Kira, that if it wasn't for Kira she would be model she was, no alter life. That her modeling would her focus, not going around trying to find a killer it was her choice yes, but taking her life wasn't going to sit right with me.

"Ebony, what do you think you can do?" demanded Mr. Yagami. I paused and remembered where I was. I looked at he older male and scratched my chin.

"Same thing I did for the killer of my parents, life sentence, not death. I won't be so forgiving to Kira," I said seriously as I watched Misa start to freak out, as if she's finally realizing what is going on. "Watari will you please knock her out or at least give her something to calm her down? I really don't want her hurting herself." I turned back around toward the shocked faces of Task Force. "Like the killer of my parents she was acting under the influence of someone else. Sure she gave into said influence, but it wasn't her idea, wasn't her plot. For all we know Kira could've sent her the 'power' and was expecting her to use it to find him. Also, morally it wouldn't sit right with me." L walked in and looked at the screen. The attention was taken off of me and focused on him. My head perked up as I remembered something.

He sat down in the chair next to me as I bit my thumb nervously. I kept my eyes on the screen and took a deep breath, there has been another case that eyes had played a part in. "L," I said shocking everyone by me using his original alias. "What about B? Could he help us with this 'eye' problem?" L looked at me almost out of shock. "His eyes have always struck me as, weird but I couldn't put a reason to it, if he knows anything about 'the eyes' it might help us." L knew more about the eyes, than I did, all I knew was that B had some "disorder" but the more I thought about it, and according to the files that Matt had hacked into his eyesight was normal, if anything it was a little better than a normal humans.

"It's out of the question, you know how unstable BB is. You were in LA during the case. I won't let you reveal anything about this case to him. Only he knows how he would react, though he would probably break out," said the detective. I merely turned back, not bothering with the fact that the LA case was years ago and I have had no reason to remember it. He would counter argue with that I did remember that there was a reason to remember. To put it not so discretely I moved to England in 2002, B was sent to prison the same year. Make your own conclusions.

"Alright as long as I'm on this case with you, I won't take sudden trips to America." I held up my hands in surrender as Misa started stirring, the sedative didn't last long. "Afternoon Misa, it's me E. I'm going to ask you to try to remain calm. All we need to know right now is conformation, are you the Second Kira?" L was looking at me curiously but looked toward the screen as Misa shifted uncomfortably. She didn't say anything else, the situation she was in was probably wearing her down already. L ordered Watari to do whatever he needed to do to get Misa to talk. I turned away, and pulled out some sound canceling earbuds.

"Oh, and Mr. Yagami, Light will be brought in for interrogation at some point, he has become our prime suspect," he said. I watched as the visual was turned off of the monitor. I took my laptop and put it on my knees. Matt had set up a privet chatroom, Mello was the only other person on, my luck.

I typed in a greeting, and not even a minute later Mello had replied, I went onto youtube and put on a Avenged Sevenfold song, pulling my knees to my chest. I hated seeing people in pain, I was always one to volunteer to give newbies a tour of Wammy's, the one that helped in the nurse's office when I was particularly bored.

_**M:**__Hello, if you didn't want to talk why the hell did you start a conversation?_

_**Kage**__: Sorry, it's just getting stressful over here, morals are being tested but nobody is challenging it._

_**M:**__ Why the hell don't you?_

_**Kage: **__ -.- because if I were to challenge it I am expected to have a solution, but the one I have isn't going to float well because I'm the only girl here._

_**M:**__ Then you're screwed. _

_**Kage:**__ Thank-you captain obvious. What's going on at W?_

_**M:**__How the hell should I know, tests are coming up, gotta study. _

I rolled my eyes, I was going to hate helping him, but I decided I'd help him with the test, I turned and looked around me, everyone was sitting around. I was 76% positive that my plan wouldn't work, looks like I was going to have to sneak out, and convince Watari to let me do my thing. Percent of success, 3%, L never slept.

_**Kage: **__M lemme tell you a thing about the test. The questions are only there to tire you out, they are looked at in case there is a tie. You have that down to a science, I'm not worried about that. The soul reason you're second is because of part two of the test. "Scare the hell out of them" isn't the answer to everything. Try answering them more than one way, just saying. N answers one on the logic side, another on the barely legal side. You should try the illegal one you're famous for and one on the emotional, it should tie it or make the gap smaller. I'm going to go, I have a plan to…well plan._

I closed the lid of the laptop. L was good at dissecting plans, so having a well planned out plan was probably going to get me nowhere. So, that left one option, and it was an option I normally used, but it's been suppressed since my arrival here. Impulsive Ebony to the rescue!

* * *

**Alright reasons for me skipping around in this chapter are justifiable. My main reason was because this was mainly between Light and Misa in my opinion. Sure L's reaction and deductions were thrown in there, but overall there wasn't much input with the Task Force. Also, in order to have my "plan" to work out for these chapters I needed to do it, trust me alright? To be honest the only chapter I had a specific plan to was Chapter 25, and I'll stop here explaining here.**

**Again I would like to reiterate that BB is alive and well…err maybe not well who knows what's going on in the crazy ward in whatever prison he is spending his days in. Also, I'm always curious to find out who can guess Ebony's name. **

**You guys are awesome! Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriteing, and alerting, I am feeling generous so I will give you a sneak peak after the review responses. Also, if I start to take too long between my chapters, don't be afraid to PM me and bother me to get off my lazy butt and edit.**

**To Nizuna Fujeda: **_Always here to entertain, that's my "job" as a writer. I want to point out that for the past two chapters you've reviewed within the hour, and both times it's made my day. _

**To Kashgal and Natures Ruler:**

_**Pie:**__ *whispering* Hey guys do you hear the-mmf!_

_**Ebony:**__ *cover's Pie's mouth with one hand and puts finger to her mouth to signal "be quiet*_

_**Matt:**__ *shows screen of PSP* "Yes we hear their footsteps, we really don't want to be caught and then….ya know I don't think they told us. I am assuming it involves us and pain…or maybe Mello he started it._

_**Mello:**__ *Frowns at Matt and whispers angrily* What is that supposed to mean?_

_**Ebony:**__ *uses other hand to cover Mello's mouth expression showing boredom* _

_**Matt:**__ *types new message and shows everyone* Now Mello might've just given away our position, ideas?_

_**Ebony:**__ *Slowly lowers hands and snatches PSP from Matt* Send Mello to the dogs! We can make a break for it. I was thinking of sending Pie, but she's my "mom" of sorts and I really don't want to die. _

_**Pie:**__ *smirks evilly and points to the back of the tunnel*_

_**Ebony:**__ *types* Or we could use the obvious secret exit. That works too. But…our scent._

_**Pie:**__ *snatches PSP* Use the bacon! *points to crates of bacon that need to be cooked*_

_**Mello:**__ *whispers while swinging arms angrily* You had bacon here the entire time? _

_**Matt:**__ *Points to the ceiling suggesting to still throw Mello to the two of them*_

_**Pie and Ebony**__: *nods* _

_**Mello:**__ *whispers* Get away! _

_**Pie and Ebony:**__ *grabs Mello and send to the surface with a crate of bacon* _

_**Matt Ebony and Pie:**__ *runs deeper into the tunnels holding in laughter*_

_**Ebony: **__ We're some friends aren't we?_

* * *

_**Sneak Peak time!**_

_Now, this is un-edited and is subject to change. I'm sure I've said that I'm the Editing Nazi. Though like all sneak peeks it has that "YAY! Wait…awww" feel to it because it shows happiness and then you realize it shows nothing really in terms of plot. So here ya go!_

"Come-in," came Matt's muffled voice from the other side of the door. I opened the door and leaned against the frame, crossing my arms and ankles, not saying a word. "Ya know staring at me isn't going to be very entertaining, all I do is sit here, if you wanted to stalk the now fourth here you might as well stick to the vents."

"Nah, the vents are too cramped, an' I get all sweaty, not fun," I said in response. I heard the familiar sounds of Zelda get paused as the wii mote hit the carpeted floor. I was then pulled inside by my wrist and pulled into a close hug. His arms were wrapped around my waist, mine around his neck. He looked at me through his goggles, and then pulled them to hang around his neck, like mine did.


	13. Chapter 13 Impulsive Ebony Activate

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any other copyrighted material referenced in this story. Ebony is my character and I will claim her as mine.**

**Chapter Thirteen Impulsive Ebony Activate! **

I crumbled up the fifteenth failed plan and threw it with the other discarded balls of wadded up trees. Another dud, another plan that wasn't going to work no matter how lucky I was, this was getting frustrating. To anyone else my not-so genius plan looked like a sketch of L and I sitting watching Amane, but the reality was, I drew them while planning. Even though every line was identical to the same one drawn on another sheet of paper with the same drawing, the thoughts behind that line were different, and only I could see the significance. So while each of the pictures I was throwing against the wall identical to the last, the ideas behind them were totally different. The last one was me dressing up like a bear and walking out while holding a lampshade to cover my head. Alright so I might not have slept for three days straight and I wasn't in the mood for coffee, dinner sounded good though.

That plan had the same problem the other 14 plans did, L. Getting discovered at this point wasn't the issue, it was L and his sleeplessness, it was becoming more of an issue. Sure I could slip some Nyquil in his tea and laugh inwardly as he drank it, but that was no guarantee. I know from personal experience with my own insomnia that unless I was looking for sleep codeine didn't work. I was going to assume that L was the same, and honestly I didn't want to overdose him and make him high, that would be bad. Drugging L might be freaking hilarious watching the calm cool detective be so crazy that it rivals my own, but in this society drugging people without them knowing it is illegal and is frowned upon.

I mean I've thought of everything, air vents, pointing out the window with my eyes widened like I've seen a ghost and yelling "OHMIGOD KIRA!" I've simulated going to my room, pretending to be asleep and sneak out in the middle of the night, blindfolding L while I ran like the hotel was about to blow up, scaling the building like King Kong, minus the gorilla suit, a dry ice bomb in the toilet. No matter what I thought of L catches me simply like uttering my name. I had an excuse though, using the bathroom…only there was one in the hotel room. "Heh, then I've been using the wrong one this entire time," would be my response as I scratch the back of my head sheepishly walking back to my seat.

"Ryuzaki, Amane is talking," said Watari from the speakers that served as communication between us. My head shot up in shock, three days. The disappointment the genius in me that should have an escape plan was unimaginable. I have to say it took longer to break her than I thought, the girl was tough. I could feel the relief though, and honestly it disgusted me. The unsaid methods of trying to get her to talk was tearing me up, distracting me as I tried to figure out how to change what was going on. That's where the King Kong idea came from. I understood there were going to be times when I would have to put on a merciless mask and break someone, but I didn't think Misa was going to have to be one of them, she seemed naive to me, simply getting her trust was going to be easy. Once I got that I would be able to get information.

"Quickly get me a visual and audio," said L as he ran toward the couch and jumped on it, sliding over a cushion I calmly walked over, already halfway between the rooms of the suits trying to pretend I was alright with this. My jaw was locked was locked, the image blinking onto the screen. I decided I was going to need to think sharper, I was already distracted and I was having a harder time than normal falling asleep, again three days without sleep. My sleeplessness wasn't my choice sometimes. I crouched in one of the chairs as Amane's shaking breath was heard throughout the room. She was dangerously close to her breaking point, I only hoped that the blindfold we had over her eyes would let tears run down her face, from experience I would say that the natural tear we made irritated the eye of their maker.

"I can't take it anymore," she said, exhaustion heard through her voice. I blinked a few times and laid my head on my knees. "Kill me." Shocked gasps filled the air as my shoulders tensed, my head looking at the scared blindfolded girl. My expression hardened, the urge to run out of that room planting in my head. "Kill me, please just kill me." My gaze shifted toward the microphone on the table in front of L. I wanted to grab it and deny her this request, I wasn't heartless and neither was L, but he needed this information. Though all of that we've been through I knew L was going to do whatever it takes to get that information. My jaw locked as I inhaled slowly, the detective's gaze was felt and I knew he was expecting me to do something. The exhale was slow as the inhale was as Amane made another request to kill her.

"I don't know, maybe this was too much for a young girl to take," said Aizawa as I gripped my jeans tightly forcing myself to keep a neutral expression and not break down myself. I turned down the offering of fruit, and coffee. My stomach was in knots as the white room on the screen provided all the light in the room remained the focus of attention. Thank god, my feet were slipping off the chair. If they met with the floor I was going to be out of that room, and the hotel before anyone could ask where I was going. Getting there wasn't going to be an issue, I've gotten into the habit of always looking at street signs when traveling in a car. It was a safety precaution in case I got kidnapped or something, slowly getting a mental map of the area.

"He's right, we've pushed her too far," said Matsuda. I shook my head slowly saying one sentence as L pressed the microphone button. My voice was quiet, rough, my anger not filtered out in the slightest. Sure I wasn't happy, in fact I was getting pretty mad, my impulsive nature was slowly rearing its head. To be honest it's been quiet since I got to Japan, but tonight the gloves were coming off, I was a literal ticking time bomb.

"We've only broken her will." Everyone else's gaze focused on me, it was clear to me what we were doing that wasn't why everyone was looking at me. Three sets of eyes, L was more focused on Misa, locked on me because I put venom in my words. The happy, lighthearted girl everyone tolerated was glaring at the screen like I could solve the problem at hand easily.

"Misa Amane, can you hear me?" asked L into the microphone slowly and precisely. She confirmed and repeated her request for death, I couldn't save someone who wanted to die. L was stubborn though, he was going to keep at it until she would admit to being the Second Kira. "Does this mean you admit to being the second Kira? Is this the reason you wish to die?" I closed my eyes and tried counting to ten. Not working, if anything I was getting more angered that wasn't planed. I did it again, if I was going to give into impulse then I was going to go all out.

"No, I don't know anything about the Second Kira," she said the pain clear in her voice. "I really can't take this anymore, I rather be dead." My shoes hit the tiled floor, the vibrations from my rubber soles traveled up my legs. Turning sharply, not looking at anyone as I walked to the door shaking my head. My heart was pounding in my chest as I weaved through the room. Pain was felt in my hand as I slapped the counter, grabbing the room key. I slammed the door shut and stomped through the hallway, muttering under my breath. I put the card in my back pocket and continued growling to myself.

"No plan, no problem just leave Ebony, nobody stopped you. To easy, he's going to send you a tail, think you can lose him?" I asked myself slightly turning my head to the side as I heard another pair of footsteps trailing mine. I was in better physical condition compared to the rest of Task Force, I could easily lose him on the stairs, disappearing into an alley as he looked for me. This is assuming I didn't trip while running, I mean I'm not the most graceful ballerina in the world. Then getting to the room wouldn't take too long, I remember the path taken back, it was about five minutes in a car, so if I timed it right twenty to thirty minutes would be my travel time.

"Ebony, where are you going?" asked Matsuda panting as he tried to catch up to me. I didn't say anything. Sending him wasn't the wisest choice, he's actually pretty easy to fool. No, he is the easiest to fool. Though he could've volunteered, L might've also subtly bugged him. Not working L, I will go through with this impulsive plan. I was also a master of ignoring people, I lived with Mello mind you and ignoring him is like ignoring a siren, I managed.

"Just going for a little walk. Let me be, I need to do something on my own." I didn't look up, as I pressed the down button on the elevator and waited for the elevator. A suited man stood next to me, looking down at me. My resolve didn't waver it was too late to back out now. If I backed down, I admitted that no matter how much I disagreed with what was going on, I would go along with it. Ebony Kage was not a push-over, ask Mello he'd vouch for me, and if he doesn't I would steal his chocolate again.

"Ryuzaki told me to follow you," said Matsuda I looked up at him and shook my head trying to convey that if he let me do what I was going to do, he was going to get in trouble, and being in trouble for losing my trail was a less severe punishment for him. I wouldn't mind being stuck in the hotel room for a while, it was worth a shot in my book. Besides, if L was trying to evaluate me as his successor, then this would be prime opportunity, he'd tell me to back off if this had no chance of working, but I don't think he has a 500-plus page psychology book memorized.

"Follow me out of the hotel and slowly walk around the block, come back here in thirty minutes and say that you've lost my trail. It won't matter, Ryuzaki will already know where I'm going and what I'm doing," I said as I stepped into the elevator. "In fact Matsuda, I'm 86% sure he already knows where I'm going and what I'm doing." I looked at him turning to look over my shoulder. His face was stunned as I walked out of the hotel.

"Aren't you worried about getting lost?" I shook my head and said that I've been to my destination before. I pushed the glass door open and walked out turning to my left and looked around the brightly lit city. People paid me no mind, to busy going home to their families was my guess. To be honest my biggest worry was getting into a fight. I mean I knew how to fight, I just wasn't confident in my skills. L seemed well-rounded, maybe I should ask him or Watari to teach me a better style than just going in there and reacting. Judo sounds fun, capoeira too.

"This is where we part Matsu, just so that your performance will be convincible, I'm going to let them explain where I am." I turned and ran not waiting for an answer as I took a detour, circling around and got back on the path that Watari had took to get to the place when we set it up. The moon light was the only other help I was getting besides the street lamps. I was wishing I had taken a jacket too, it was a little chilly. Live and learn, when about to go on an impulsive rampage make sure to keep a jacket along the path to the door, though I could've used the window. This is where my cape would come in handy.

I suppose that I should use my time walking to the holding chambers to plan out what I was going to say to Misa. Though, I had gotten this far in complete impulse why should I stop? So far it was working for me, and actually I was curious to see how far this could take me. Matt was going to get a kick out of this when I tell him eventually. A part of me was getting tired of this case already, wanting to go home.

A gentle tone was going to have to be in use, Misa as close to breaking, this much was a given. Trying to build her back up was going to be a challenge, it would be easier to keep trying to break her. That was the entire reason me of storming out, not an option. This was going to be a challenge, but I think with time a comfortable Misa would be more willing to give me information than a scared broken one.

It took about half an hour, but I eventually got there, I panted and walked in carefully. My shoes made an echo with every step as I took the familiar path to the muffled cries of Misa. The halls were dark, the walls colored brown the only white room was the one we had repainted for Amane, and it was also the only room with lights. My hand gently ran against the wood as I walked through the hall, my eyes closed and breaths deep and thoughtful. I opened the door, and to my demise, saw Watari look up from his table of torture. I lifted my chin and looked at the room, trying to disguise my nervousness.

"E, what are you doing here?" asked the old man slightly showing his surprise on my entrance. I closed the door, turning my head toward it to make sure it didn't slam. I kept my calm expression on as I walked in and looked at Misa. I ignored L asking me the basic same question as I hooked my thumbs into the pockets of my jeans. I didn't turn toward the camera, I was still unhappy at the man behind it and I was going to make it clear during my interrogation, though it was going to be more of a conversation, but whatever.

"Calm down, I'm not going to get myself killed, he wouldn't be here if that was a possibility," I gestured toward Watari with my elbow. I used my left hand to scratch my cheek and looked at the bound girl. "Give me an hour, and I will explain when I get back." I still didn't turn toward the camera, the lights were bright, this much I knew. My shadow was at least three feet longer than my body, and about five shades darker than it was outside. I walked over to Misa and stood a few feet from her, pausing as she turned as much as she could toward me, she had been gagged.

"Alright E, you have an hour. We had to gag her because she tried to bite her tongue," said L from the speakers I hooked up, a new dub that L was using ringing through the room. I turned slightly toward the camera, blinking in thought for a moment. I nodded slowly and walked behind Misa. She started trembling more, I let my expression soften as I tried to calm her down.

There were a few options that ran through my head as to why I was granted permission. The first one I said earlier, but I'll repeat it. L was evaluating me as a potential successor, in order to get a complete understanding on how I worked I was going to have to be let off of the leash. I just broke the leash, shredded it into tiny pieces. The other reason I was confident was going along the fact I just stormed out on impulse to come here. Anyone would be crazy to think I was going to step down after coming this far.

"Alright Misa, I'm going to remove the gag. If you bite your tongue, I'm sorry but I'll have to replace it, understand?" Misa nodded her head, barely, and make a muffled noise that supported the conformation. I untied the tight knot of the gag, looking at the camera for a brief moment. I walked across the room and sat just in view of the camera on the floor, bringing my right knee to my chest and hugged it.

"Why are you here?" Misa asked fear still lacing her voice slightly trembling. I pulled my leg closer slightly as I started twirling the end of my hair around my finger, so this is why Near did this. It was comforting, the knots in my stomach were slowly untying themselves. I saw Watari sit down, watching in unrestrained curiosity, if he was curious I could only imagine how Task Force, or even L was reacting.

"I'm here because I want to talk," I said simply. "I don't agree in the slightest in what they did to you and I had a better solution, however I figured it would sound silly if I said it out loud, so I didn't. You were a model Misa, how was it? And I know this won't matter but you may call me whatever you wish as long as it starts with an E." My voice was quiet but monotone. I turned my head to the left and stared at the corner for a second. See how she reacts here, see how much work I was going to have to do to get her comfortable.

"M-my modeling? Why, who is asking?" She started hyperventilating. I stood up and gently held her shoulders, this was going to be harder than I thought, she was dangerously close to breaking and telling us everything, I didn't want to break her, I wanted her to trust me. Trust at this point was everything, I even had a plan B in case on the off chance we were wrong. If she trusted me, I could see if she was willing to help on the investigation, Kira seemed like the kind of person to me that could use a piece of arm candy, that was mean. Though, Kira to me did seem to be a shallow person. Like I said, I'd see if she was willing.

"Misa, calm down. Nobody is asking but me, there isn't some cree-" I stopped mid-sentence and turned slightly toward the camera, L did classify as creepy to those who didn't know how to deal with eccentric people. I frowned and looked toward the ceiling pursing my lips together in thought, "there isn't some pervert," I paused again trying to decide if that was the right word, so far it was, "trying to keep you for himself. I am clearly female, and I don't roll that way. I just want to talk, is that ok?" She hesitated, unsure how to respond.

I walked back to my spot and started twirling my hair again. Patience was everything. I've learned this virtue, but I couldn't stand boredom so it was almost a lost cause. Some orphans were like this when they first arrive, the first step, or the one most effective is one that puts them in control. I had to give myself a name and a story, once she trusts me, maybe she'll tell me what we need to know. I looked up at her and stopped twirling my hair momentarily.

"Kira killed the man that killed my parents," I said suddenly. Misa perked up I had to keep my emotions toward Kira, the judgment I had toward him because Misa worshiped him. The wording of the videos was clear on this point and at this point I had every right to believe she was in fact the Fake-Kira. "I hated that man with everything a five year-old could manage, but I still fought to keep him alive. I hate death, can't stand it. I had no other family and I was sent to an orphanage to grow up. My offer stands Misa, no matter what happens I will fight to keep you alive."

"H-how did you parents die?" Misa was more curious, from her tone of voice she had almost forgotten her predicament, but lines of concern still lined her mouth and around her nose. I took a deep breath and thought through some math, how common the deaths of my small family were compared to majority of the murders in the world. Gunshots, if you search for those the chance of my case within the first ten pages was .02%, I was safe.

"Shot, mom was in the chest. My dad and sister in the head, I can't sleep on that night anymore. Nightmares still haunt me even after all of these years. I guess I should thank Kira for killing the killer, if I hadn't saved him. I don't think 'an eye for an eye' is appropriate, everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes deserve consequences, but death might take things too far." I looked toward Misa, there was a 67% chance she would say something that suggested she worshiped Kira, but that wouldn't help us we knew she was Kira.

"Kira did the same for me, I'm in love with him." I tilted my head toward the side. This type of worship I partly understood, not personally but I remember reading it. She felt as if she owed Kira, again bringing back "an eye for an eye." To repay him for taking away something she hated with all the spite she could manage, she was going to turn it to love for him. "I want to help him anyway I can, does that mean I'm a bad person?" This question was a dangerous one to ask, depending on who she asked is the answer she'd receive would be different. My answer was going to be honest, I don't like lying either but I also don't have a problem with it.

"No, it doesn't it just means that you owe him one," I responded calmly as I lifted my head toward Watari. "Can I have a bowl of grapes?" he nodded and walked out of the room. "What have you tried to do repay him?" Misa's toes clenched against the metal as Watari handed me a bowl of green grapes. I put one in my mouth and offered Misa one. The sweet juices calmed me, I wanted to see if that was a testable fact, and I figured what they were feeding her was bland. It would be a nice change for her.

"Yes please," she said. I stood up and casually put one in her mouth letting her chew on it slowly in thought delaying her answer. I could almost guess how far people are leaning toward the screen back at the suite, but there was not going to be an answer, she'll use the time she was buying my chewing on the grape slowly to come up with something that was neither a lie nor the truth.

I stiffened as she bowed her head "Me. I gave Kira me." I nodded and smiled, thankful that the camera was filming my back. I was right, though this could be costing me points. It was all within reason and given time I was sure L could figure out what I was doing, though that's assuming he didn't already. She said the right thing to keep her out of jail for the moment, but this in a way was worse. "I promised him that I would do whatever he wanted me to do."

"So, you know who Kira is," I asked even though it sounded like a statement. Misa froze again as I looked at my watch, standing up giving Misa another grape after offering her another one. I let her finish chewing before I broke the bad news to her. "It's time for me to leave, I'll be back. I'm going to have to replace the gag." I walked over and got the cloth ready.

"Goodbye Eri," she said I froze. Eri meant "blessed with reason" I smiled gently as I tied the gag back on and walked out my head spinning, not fully believing that what I had just done worked. I was going to have to do this impulsive thing more often, she technically didn't confess but she did say that she was working for Kira. I knew I wasn't going to get anything more out of her, she probably knew I was trying to find out more about Kira, I would have to assure her that I had no interest, even though the entire point of me doing this was to find out who he was. My acting skills were going to be put to the test, wish the monotone thing could work for me.

I took the same path I took to get to Misa back to the hotel, my pace significantly slower at the expected earful from L and Task Force on how stupid my actions were. The cool air felt good, sure every now and again I'd take a walk around the block but I didn't pay attention to what I was seeing or who was around, my head was in the clouds thinking about the Kira Case.

The answers were almost in the palm of my hand, all I had to do was slowly coax her into giving me what I needed and then I could go home! I was homesick, when the fun tided down, I realized I missed the daily harassments of Mello, the laid-back nature of Matt, and the quiet Near. Mostly though I missed the pranks I'd pull, there was not enough time to study the hotel and plan a really elaborate prank before we moved, or avoid getting caught.

I stuck the key card into the hotel door and walked in, everyone; Matsuda included, turned and looked at me. I smiled shyly and put the card on the table near the door and walked deeper into the realm of the crème colored hotel. Before I went to face the stern talking to I grabbed a bowl of mixed berries from the suite's kitchen and then laid in my chair sideways.

Nobody was saying anything, just staring. It made me a little uncomfortable, I won't lie. I shifted my position as a blackberry's juices exploded in flavor on my tongue, I was secretly waiting for the clicks of handcuffs and the feeling of cool metal around my wrist. Nothing came, nothing happened I almost jumped when Aizawa broke the silence.

"Why did you leave, you were close to getting her confess to being who she is!" he half yelled throwing his arm in gesture toward the black screen that both L and I were staring at intently. I licked my lips in thought. I knew only I could explain this, even though I didn't know what words to use. L and I might be able to look like we could read minds, we were far from it.

"Her psychological state is fragile, if I continued forth with the interrogation all hope in gaining her trust would've been impractical. I am trying to acquire said trust," I mumbled holding a blueberry within my forefinger and thumb looking at it before bringing it to my mouth and chewing on it slowly, doing what Misa did to stall for time, however that wouldn't work unless I had a question to answer. "However on the off chance we were wrong I already have a Plan B."

"Why did you leave?" asked L quietly, in almost the same volume I had used to answer Aizawa's question. I took another berry and put it in my mouth chewing slowly. L turned his head toward me his eyes trying to unearth the secrets I held there. I rolled my shoulders uncomfortably and started lightly tugging at the ends of my hair, looking at how long it was getting anything to distract me, to buy me time. "Ebony, why did you leave?" Apparently not long, he only waited thirty seconds before repeating the question this time using the attention grabbing reflex by using my name.

"It wasn't right, what you were doing. If you actually read the answers of my past tests-the two I took seriously- those that involve torture of one of the investigators, or if there's the option of torturing the suspect, my answers were less sarcastic, more like an answer that a successor of L would give, not an Ebony answer," I whispered looking at the screen again trying my best to keep a straight face and not break down in tears right there. Tears were welling up in my eyes, I knew that Task Force was left in the dark, but L. L was intuitive enough to fill in the blanks, that for once I was going to have to act out on my own.

At school I was the kid being picked on, always being the smartest in my class. I knew basic algebra when I was in third grade, I taught myself. When Wammy's took me in, it was a haven, finally I was around those who thought on the same level as me. I belonged, but I threw this away pretending to be stupid and the teasing continued. I put on a brave face through it all, never once did I show that how I was being treated bothered me.

Seeing Misa break, it reminded me of me. Long nights I'd curl up in my bed and hug my knees in pain. When I was sent to Wammy's I'd smirk at them because they were teasing me about my low intelligence, and looking to my right, well this proved to them that I was smarter than all of them, and most of them combined. It was those earlier years that tore me apart, so I had a soft spot for people in a torturous position unless I knew there was no other way, or I simply didn't like the person.

"There are other ways to make people talk. Misa, I think we can all agree isn't the most colorful crayon in the box. If we could get her to trust one of us, though this will take longer, she might tell us clues that will lead us to what we need to know that wouldn't otherwise be given to us if we broke her spirit." I dropped my hair and looked around me, everyone's eyes were still looking at me.

"How sure are you that this will work?" asked Mr. Yagami seriously. I leaned back and considered this, I didn't really think about that when I stood up and left. Actually the only think I was thinking about was "I gotta get out of here" but that's beside the point. It's called an impulsive reaction for a reason, and I'm pretty sure I just demonstrated a lot of flaws on relying on it for a plan.

"75 to 80%, however I'm not sure if I'm right about her personality," I responded thankful we were slowly moving past my motives. I started eating my fruit again, my stomach wasn't in knots anymore. "L, if you don't mind I want to take over Misa's interrogation. The blindfold will remain there until we get what we need or that we come up with a different plan." The fact her DNA was on the envelopes from the Second Kira was a fact I wasn't going to ignore. Especially considering how Ukita died.

"Will all video and audio feeds remain intact?" I nodded. "Then I don't see why I should refuse. I've actually been waiting for you to show some initiative on this case, your friends back at home said that you're smarter than you look, I want to see so myself." I blinked a few times, wondering how he got said information. The more inconspicuous way that the three of them would be able to pick up on was during the tests. Sneaky little detective L was.

"And you wait until now to tell me? I've known that this was just a tool you've been using to accurately put me in the rankings, so I think I have the right to know; where do I rank L?" I felt the air in the room freeze, I've only used the name twice. Not only that, but I was freely implying Wammy's purpose. The other people here had no clue what I meant, and I supposed they figured we weren't going to spill. The detective wasn't fazed, I meant business and he knew that this was my way of expressing it, by dancing the line he didn't want me crossing. I turned and met his gaze as he thought my question over.

"If you were willing to take over, you would easily be first, however because you've shown me how easily you are distracted, it's a tie." I nodded and asked if my rankings were still being posted. "No, we took you off of the list. However, this is similar to the tests given. I will tell Roger to let the others know how you fare." I closed my eyes and laid my forehead on my knees, Mello wasn't going to be happy about this. Well, might as well get ready to face his wrath. I'm going to need a bomb structure and a lifetime supply of twinkies please.

"Um, I'm sorry but Ryuzaki, Ebony, we're not exactly following your conversation," said Matsuda I closed my eyes, I had forgotten that they were there. Okay, I knew they were there but I forgot we were still speaking in Japanese, maybe we should take these conversations into a language that almost nobody knows. I turned around and smiled my apologies and then looked toward L to see if it was alright to explain to them the basics. He shook his head and I shrugged in apology, turning my head to stare at the wall in thought once more.

I heard the cops walk back into the main room, all three tired. I leaned forward a little and then leaned back and started thinking, so I was up to par with Near. Mello wasn't going to be happy about that, but the thing is, if the two of them work together I would be surpassed myself. Now, all I had to do was prove it to them, but how was my question.

"Ebony," L said quietly as if he didn't want the others to hear. I turned toward him and raised my eyebrows gently tucking my now waist length hair behind my ear. "Light is also going to be taken in for interrogation, I would like to see you interrogate him as well." Excitement bubbled up in my stomach. Interrogating him was going to be fun, mainly because I didn't particularly like that little liar. My conscience was going to be clear, that's all I was worried about at that point.

"I understand, my interrogation method is going to be like rain and shine though," I replied in a whisper, frowning at my now empty bowl of fruit. "But I'm free to do whatever I want to him, right?" I shrugged and put the yellow glass fixture on my head like a hat. I smiled as the bowl covered my eyes as I turned my head making it spin on my head. I could barely see, and a yellow rim was at the edge of the top of my vision.

"He's still a member of this team, and if he is Kira he knows your face, once he knows your name, must I finish?" I shook my head but I smiled all the same, I had more power! I could now call Light out for being a liar and not have to worry about him tackling me to the ground and killing me with his bare hands. I laughed at the thought. This was going to be fun!

"Tell me Ryuzaki, what do you think my name starts with?" I asked suddenly remembering that Kira needed a face, if he could give me the right answer then I would worry about Kira getting it right. L looked at me quizzically but said he assumed it was an E. "That's why I chose Ebony, my real name starts with a totally different letter on the other end of the alphabet. The whole point was to choose a different name so people can't figure out who we really are, so I did just that. Though, if you want the true story, the name I had in mind was too much like my real name so I went with the reason why I wanted that name to be my name."

"Interesting, and clever. So Watari was right about you. He said that when you wanted to be, you were almost identical to me in intelligence, personality you and I are different in that way." I nodded in agreement. I turned toward L as he started typing on the laptop that was in front of him, need to work on observation. I thought about all the late nights, and how I generally viewed the type of relationship we had.

It was like Near, but different. I felt protective over the tiny white kid, whether it be from Mello or anyone else. L on the other hand, I looked up to him but the warmth that could be compared to a mother's hug was still there. Near was my "little brother" and L was my "big brother" interesting.

"Ebony, you haven't slept in three days. I think it would be wise if you were to go to bed." I nodded and made the detective his coffee and then smiled at him as I made my way to the bedroom in suite and collapsed on the bed, glancing at the clock before I fell asleep. 4:32 am.

* * *

**Now, this is going to be the last "regular" update. Go marching season! Please don't hesitate to spam me if I start taking forever, I might actually get off of my butt…err on my butt and edit. It sounds like it'll be a hard thing to do edit and stand at the same time, especially since I write on a laptop.**

**Thanks for favoriting, alerting, reviewing and reading. **

**To Nuzuna Fujieda: **_Thanks for the compliment, means a lot to think that people that don't know me think the same thing as my friends. I'm extremely happy you love it!_

**To Kashgal and Natures Ruler: **

_**Pie:**__ Hey guys, I feel kinda bad for throwing Mello to the dogs. Sure it was my idea and all, but you could've talked me out of it._

_**Ebony:**__ Nahh he deserved it, multiple reasons why, but I don't want to waste this bonding time to talk about someone that isn't with us anymore._

_**Pie:**__ You say that like he's dead. I am pretty sure he's still alive….err right Matt?_

_**Matt:**__ Don't bring me into this! Though I wonder what's going on in Mello world. *smirks*_

_**Ebony:**__ …probably saying something along the lines of "Let me go you crazy people! I need to get back at the bitches who did this to me!" That's assuming he can talk, if he can't then it's more "mmf!" _

_**Pie:**__ And there's Ebony for you, genius one moment totally nuts the next._

_**Matt:**__ You say that like she was just…you mean the story I knew that. _

_**Ebony:**__ Let's keep moving, I have a sinking feeling in my stomach. _


	14. Chapter 14 Ebony vs Light and The Cops

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any other copyrighted material  
**

**Chapter Fourteen: Ebony versus Light, and the Cops **

"Ebony," I heard a faint, calm-yet slightly distressed voice call as I was in my bedroom playing a round of Call of Duty with Matt. Sighing I curled up and groaned loudly as I used the stomach muscles I haven't used in…well ever. Still, it was a workout and all my brain power was switched on, my "break" was over. If the genius in the other room sounded confused-even if slightly-there was something that I needed to be Super Ebony on. Still needed that cape, maybe I should write a note to myself so I don't keep forgetting to ask Watari.

I jogged into the room, L already through what looked like his third plate of sweets. I really couldn't judge I was working on my fifth platter of assorted fruits, and my third parfait. Man, I love parfaits, the perfect mixture of fruit and yogurt, it's heaven in a cup! Ya know, maybe "parfait" should be my alias, I or maybe I should put my genius to good use and make a time machine just so I can thank the guy that made this delicacy. Someone-I'm assuming Aizawa-cleared their throat. I stopped staring at the ceiling like a complete moron and paid attention to my surroundings, turning from the glowing monitor to get something to drink, yawning.

I heard an uncertain whimper coming from the monitor. I furrowed my brow as I poured myself a cup of coffee and picked up an orange from the fridge before throwing myself into the chair next to L, Misa lifted her head slightly. She was still exhausted, I had kept her up for twenty-four hours, wearing her down humanely, taking the walls down so she'd trust me. To be honest, I almost forgot how lethargic I was the first night staying up all day and all night, and then another day.

"Mr. Stalker? Hello Mister, where are you right now? Do you- do you think we can stop this game?" Misa asked wearily. Stalker, when did this happen? I into my room twenty steps from the laptop sure, but when did L go from "creepy guy" to "stalker?" The tone was also slightly confused, if not clueless. I turned toward L and then back at the screen, he hasn't had any conversation with Misa since I took over that I know of. Game? Something was fishy here and I did not like it. I snuck another look at L, he had that amazed look on his face. Eyes widened more than they already were, thumb hanging limply from his bottom teeth. Yeah, that look some of you are trying to imitate now. What? I'm the only person who imitates characters as I read…well then…I'll just continue with the story.

It was apparent she didn't remember anything, however that could easily explained, the human brain naturally defends itself, pushing back memories. However, given her obvious worship to Kira, what memories of him did she have to repress? "Mr. Stalker, this is illegal you have to stop. Ok come-on please." I turned toward the laptop next to L's main one, and turned off the voice dub, she should remember my voice at the least. L moved his thumb toward his lip, watching me.

"Misa, it's me calm down," I said letting a gentle note take over my voice. My words were slow and controlled, hiding back the anxieties and thousands of questions behind my eyes. "Tell me, why are you in there?" She slightly lifted her head, her posture suggested she was confused, and stated that she was there because she was famous. I bit the inside of my lip as my mouth formed the statement that she was being confined under suspicion that she was Kira B.

"What? Wasn't I kidnapped here by Mr. Stalker so he could take pictures of me?" Misa asked her voice sounding panicked. "Can't you at least take this blindfold off? I want to see the face of my friend Eri." I ignored the comments as I shifted my position, mimicking the detective next to me. What was going on? Last Night she was sure in her statements, she knew why she was there and if anything I heard a tone of guilt in her voice, as if she had betrayed someone.

"Actually no. Misa what do you remember from our conversation last night?" I took a drink from the coffee frowning as I stole some of L's sugar and stirred it into my cup, Misa babbling about her boyfriend. I had to say, this girl was dedicated to Light, almost made me want to color in more numbers on his guilt chart. Oh look, my sketchbook was right in front of me anyways. Now where is my pencil?

I looked up at Matsuda and turned the voice synthesizer. He was tense, like he was about to snap. He was frustrated. I wasn't going to stop him, I wanted to know how he reacted under frustration. The guy was so agreeable-most of the time- and sure Aizawa snapped from time to time, it was a lot like Mello. I moved to the side as the young detective took the microphone.

"Hey Amane! Cut it out, nobodies buying it!" he yelled through the microphone. I tugged at the cord gently as I merely turned the voice changer off. She sighed and started freaking out, begging to be let go. I pushed my hair from my face. I sighed and shook my head, I needed to see her eyes, and maybe a recent picture of Misa, so I could get a reading before I went to see her, or afterwards, it wouldn't actually matter. Either way I'd be sitting somewhere in this room comparing the eyes, looking for differences, once I saw her real eyes at this moment.

" Ryuzaki, would you mind getting me the pictures from the last photo shoot Misa was at, the pictures unedited?" I asked as he nodded slowly, knowing where I was going with this. A few more questions and I would determine on what my next move was, and seeing how letting her see would be dangerous, I was going to have to be crafty with my words. I was naturally clumsy, as I've demonstrated multiple times, so this was going to be hard.

"Misa, calm down, we need your help," I said into the microphone leaning back, keeping the compassion in my voice even though it was forced, and the major curiosity that I was feeling was threatening to make an appearance, "take a few deep breaths. If you cooperate with us I will set up a meeting with Light if that's possible." I slightly shook my head, it wasn't going to happen. Actually I needed Light to be observation as well. Multiple reasons, one I wanted to show L I had more than one interrogation method, and like what drawn me to this case, the convenience that Misa was just as devoted to her boyfriend as she was to Kira was little fishy.

"Bathroom, I need to go to the bathroom again!" L tapped me, I nodded and turned the modifier on again and scooted the microphone toward him, commenting on our need for another one. I small chuckle passed through the room as I put my palms on my eyes, Misa's condition had jumped from, minor thought to major problem. I went from casually sitting sideways on my chair to being L's copy in a matter of minutes, this wasn't normal.

"It's only been four minutes since you last went to the bathroom, I'm afraid you're going to have to hold it," L said into the microphone and then turning toward me. "How long do you need to see if she'll talk to you like she was last night?" I thought it over, I had no idea. Given her current state it was going to easily be a couple of hours. Her will was back, innocence tainting her voice. I blinked at him and then turned back to the monitor.

L turned back toward the monitor, his thumb between his lips. Misa just yelled the word pervert in reference to L. "I'm a… pervert?" I smiled, trying not to laugh. I leaned back, turning to where I was sitting how I normally did, found I wasn't pleased with how I was sitting and hung upside down. I crossed my arms and let a chuckled escape as I pulled my arm down and pointed to the ceiling.

"You can't blame her Ryuzaki, we have her tied to a chair, blindfolded. If we want her to talk, she needs to be comfortable, or more comfortable than she currently is. I'll think about it for a while, see if I can find a way to keep her restrained and give her some freedom. I am leaning toward handcuffing her to the wall behind her, she can get her exercise and we can monitor her from here." I looked toward L as his pocket rang.

The monitor was cut off as L answered, giving him the room number. This hadn't been the first time I've seen L talk on the phone, remember when Ukita died? He was all secret agent-y switching between two conversations at once. Like everything he held he had the phone firmly clasped between his index and thumb.

I leaned forward and got my spiral, pencil and a set of professional colored pencils L gave me for my birthday. Happy belated St. Patrick's Day world, I hope you wore green. I flipped to a sketch of L, he was in his normal crouched position, the drawing one of my more accurate ones, one of my best. If I was able to keep it, and even if I wasn't I wasn't I'd just make a new one, I'd hang it in my room, or put it in my secret file with all the drawings of my family, and friends. The pictures I've drawn for memory purposes.

I scratched my chin, could Kira B get L's name from my drawing, or does it need to be an actual picture? Did pictures even work? Wait, yes they did, criminals whose names have been censored had started dying. Backup would know, from what I found out about the twisted guy thanks to subtle clues left in his room, and what L had told Mello he had the eyes. L didn't want me to go talk to B, and I did promise him that as long as we were working together I'd stay away from the psycho. Unfortunately for me, I was a woman of my word. I also knew that if I could figure this out L could too.

I lifted my head as Light walked in, his father raised his head with a small smile on his face. The air became tense as L and I refused to look at him. He was up to something. I sighed and waited for him to say something, with Misa in our observation he would take this opportunity to "clear" his name. If he truly was innocent I'd like to think he wouldn't do this. I might hate him, but because of this I've studied his habits more so than a normal person.

"Ryuzaki, it's just as I said over the phone, I could be Kira." I smiled, hook, line, and sinker. Mr. Yagami gasped and shook Light's shoulders. I perked up and flipped to his picture, looking over the numbers that I had darkened. I stood up and walked across the room toward him. He looked at me skeptically as I nodded toward Mr. Yagami who stood to the side. I smirked and pushed up to my tip toes. My hand was slapped away as I went for his hair. I pivoted on my toe and knocked him down on the floor, not wasting any time to sit on his torso, pinning his hands above his head. I've lived with Mello, need I explain anymore?

I pushed his hair back and stared intently in his warm-if your describing color only-brown eyes. I didn't blink as I took in every pigment in his eyes and the character of a man he was. Cold, merciless, egotistical, secretive, intelligent, manipulator; he was feeling nervous, worried. His secret was in danger, he knew this. I blinked once as continued to read his eyes. He felt that, whatever he was doing was for the greater good, he saw no wrong in his actions, but he knew if whatever he was doing he'd be in big trouble.

"Light Yagami, this is the best reading I've ever gotten of your eyes. Don't act shocked I know you know I can read people's eyes. Ryuzaki, either this man is Kira, or he is a strong supporter of the killer. Everyone here, my feelings toward Light pushed aside, can confidently say which one of these theories I prefer to be true." I stood up and walked back to my chair and considered this as Light's dad tried to convince his son that there was no chance of him being Kira. Turning to my guilt-meter I picked up a pencil and underlined 81, knowing L was looking at me in interest.

"Look dad, if Ryuzaki is L then it's safe to say he's the world's best detective. Ebony being his cousin has also shown that she could take this case on her own. And they both seem pretty certain that I'm Kira. We know L has never been wrong before." I heard Light brush off his clothes, and then more likely fix his hair. Smirking, I dissected his voice, someone wasn't happy at me. Mr. OCD was mad I messed up his perfect hair placement that stays that way when he sleeps. I mean, the hell-pardon my French-L'enfer-Light? I know lots of girls who would kill to have your hair.

I felt honored to be brought into the conversation, however the only thing we had to point him toward being Kira were lose ends and hunches, not to mention my eye reading. He was genuinely worried at this point, I was a loose cannon and with L's submissive attitude in social situations when I impulsively looked at Light's eyes there wasn't much L could do. It was clear I was the puppet master, bow down to me Light Yagami! Wait, don't…I want to keep playing this game a little longer, it's fun.

"If it's any consultation Mr. Yagami the only thing that points Light to being Kira are a collection of hunches and loose ends that point toward him. For all we know Kira could be framing Light." I looked at Light, his eyes found mine as my left eye's view was obscured by a blanket of raven colored hair. I smirked slightly as his eyes hardened. I was only saying this for Mr. Yagami, he needed the comfort.

Light went on, and on about how everything pointed toward him, that he was probably subconsciously killing people in his sleep. I turned around and looked at his eyes and saw the gleam that seemed to permanently belong in his eyes. It wasn't typically seen at Wammy's, unless someone was in trouble, it was the gleam of a liar. I then came to the conclusion definitively that I hated Light simply because he was a liar, simple as that.

I turned around as L explained that it was impossible for Light to be killing in his sleep, the late night surveillance proved this. I chucked to myself as Light faked being shocked, if not that a little peeved at L for these cameras. "You drool in your sleep," I said simply as I typed _He's lying,_ on the laptop on the desk.

Light wanted us to lock him up it was evident. His motive is what bothered me, and if the same thing that happened to Misa were to happen to Light, then the time for interrogations and confessions was severely limited. If that's the case, we had a week at most. I was going to have to rethink my technique, and my hatred toward Mr. Perfect couldn't get in the way. I needed to break him and fast…OH MELLO!

L typed something on his laptop, and pulling my laptop closer, I snuck a look at his. _I know, I want you to follow him and Aizawa to where he's being kept. Also, if you could talk to Misa Amane, and give her some freedom the solution we talked about earlier seems like it could work. _I nodded slightly and turned back toward Light, scowling slightly as all I could come up with was ways to kill the guy. I needed a confession first, darn you brain!

"Well, what if we incarcerate you for a while. imprison you like we did Amane. If criminals made public keep dying then it would lead us to believe your innocent, right?" L asked in his characteristic monotone. I took my pencil in hand and started darkening the numbers from the 32 I had already colored continued onward, taking my time. "Is that how you imagined it? Honestly I don't like how this is going at all, but what choice do I have? Let's do it!"

"Woohoo!" I threw my hands up leaning back in my chair. "Whaa!" A crash rang through the room as I fell back, landing on my back. I rubbed the back of my head, chuckling to myself. Nothing could improve my mood, if he was in custody I had every right to make his life as hard as possible. He was my mortal enemy, it was a dream come true! "Can I cuff him? I'm pretty good with handcuffs." I was really excited, my pulse was racing as L actually handed me a pair of handcuffs I looked at him in wonder and then hugged the cold metal to my chest giggling like a mad woman.

I unhooked the cuffs, everyone was looking at me like I was crazy. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, and crossed my arms. Now, all I had to do is get him away from daddy. "Ebony, what are you doing? There is no way my son is Kira." I shook my head slowly and started twirling my finger around one of the cuffs, looking around the room at the disapproving eyes.

"I'm sorry Mr. Yagami but there is a pretty high chance in my book, so high I don't feel comfortable sharing this information with the suspected Kira. The longer Light is in suspect of being Kira is here the more in danger we are, all of us. Even Light would agree, now if you will please turn around." Light looked toward his dad. I didn't bother reading his eyes, they were probably faking some emotion of sorts, can I plug him to a lie detector? Wait, at the rate he's been lying I was going to be more accurate than that machine blindfolded.

"If I have these doubts I can't help you to catch Kira. Ryuzaki, Ebony as long as there is any suspicion I might be Kira no matter what I say or what I do, what condition I am in you won't let me out." I smiled and assured him it wouldn't be a problem. Light turned around as I tilted my finger toward the older teen. I took a few steps forward and stopped the cuffs, clicking them into place as I used my other hand to cover his eyes with a blindfold.

"This would be more epic if I had two pairs," I said pointing at the handcuffs. L handed me the pair I assumed was going to be used for Misa, the chain longer than a conventional pair. Where in the worl did he get those? How long were they in his pockets anyways? All these questions must have an answer to them! I put them into the pockets of my jeans and saluted.

I stood in a heroic pose, chest puffed out and hands on my hips, "I will go forth for this country, and this world to stop Kira. Or at the least confirm that Misa really has lost her memory. See ya!" I slouched and scratched my chin in thought at the idea of amnesia. I shrugged and waved, smiling widely. I turned and left the room bouncing happily as I went to the elevator and took it down to the ground floor and then waited for Aizawa and Light.

I followed soundlessly, walking in step with the cop. I started twirling around on my heel every couple of steps, surprised on how quiet Light was being. I was still pretty positive that he was Kira, this would be the ace in the hole, if the killings stop, then we'd have conformation it's that simple. Simplicity wasn't what this case was known for. If anything it was the opposite of that word. This made things interesting, if cases were simple, then where was the fun? Granted I haven't been on any other case so I had no other reference point, I just assumed alright!

I looked at Aizawa and started braiding my hair as I walked. I gestured toward Light, saying that he could ask him anything he wanted, honestly I wanted to see Light's eyes, but seeing his lips forced down in a frown was going to have to work. I was going to have my moment to shine, once Light was situated, I figured as the interrogator I had free range on what was legal, and sneaking in bits and pieces of things that technically weren't. Either way he was going to talk and I was going to use some speech-to-text thing so I'd never forget.

I looked at the car Aizawa obviously drove and sat in the back driver's side seat pointing to the passenger's seat waiting for the door to open so I could be in complete sync with it, hopefully not tipping Light off in the slightest that I was there. The chances of him knowing were pretty high though, I was a naturally curious person, and Light knew it. So it was about 65% probability that Light knew, and if he did he'd be telling me right about….now.

"Ebony, I know you're back there, what do you think you are going to accomplish?" Light asked his voice sounding light, but the more you pay attention to his voice the sneer that was meant for me to hear was heard. He also wanted to know how I planned on getting a confession out of him, he practically confessed right there. Of course this wasn't the case, stupid legal system needed everything hand-fed to them.

"I think I am going to accomplish nothing, absolutely nothing Light Yagami," I mumbled as the car started moving forward. "I plan on getting some hints as to what Kira could possibly be planning, if you're not him then the reasons why we were suspecting you will hopefully be revealed. However, I do have some idea on what could happen during your confinement, and I have limited time." I kept my scowl out of my voice as I glared out of the window, memorizing the path to the police department, we're still working with the donut lovers.

Now I could be wrong, but come-on I'm rivaling L in terms of coming to conclusions on this case so, make your own conclusion. Anyways back to my point, I was sure Light had slightly turned toward me, even though he was blindfolded, when I said this. I smirked slightly I was on the right track. So, he was planning on losing his memories, but how was this going to be possible?

We walked into the Police headquarters, cops littered the halls. Each one of them turned toward me and furrowed their brow, confused as to why I was there. Aizawa sighed and pointed to the room that clearly was for meetings. "That's where we met before Ryuzaki came," he grumbled, walking off again. I turned toward him and shrugged, walking into the beige room where there was a meeting going on.

"Who are you?" asked a man clearly in charge, badge happily placed on his breast. Kitamura, it was nice to see someone I barely paid any attention to, but yet I knew every aspect of his daily life. I still don't consider myself a stalker for that by the way, it had to be done. I held my hands behind my back and let a smile spread across my face.

"I'm Eri," I said happily, bowing slightly at the waist. The cops raised an eyebrow as I was informed that this was a secret meeting going on. "Oh, I have no doubt in my mind about that. This is a police station after all. I was informed back at hotel number…five that majority of you guys were a part of the Kira case and resigned leaving only Mr. Aizawa, Matsuda, Mogi, Yagami and Ukita. I'm sorry about the loss of Ukita."

"This is no place for kids, Miss Eri. Why don't you just run along?" the man in charge said. I tilted my head to the side and considered his request. By running along I knew he meant for me to leave this facility and never turn around and come back. My version of "running along" meant I run around the room with my hands thrown in the air waving like a mad woman. I didn't want his version of the phrase to be the action I took, and I really didn't want the cops to "kindly" escort me to the nearest padded room with one of those jackets that make you hug yourself.

"I don't believe I will Mr. Kitamura," I responded as I walked in and sat down in one of the free chairs, reading what was on the board. Even though L had complete control of the case they were still looking into it. Though some of his "facts" were wrong, the Second Kira hadn't given up. "Excuse me, but Kira B hasn't given up her search, actually it was quite successful. She found Kira."

"The kid's an idiot," said one of the cops I turned my head toward him and frowned. I crossed my arm, frowning my good nature disappearing as the cops around me chuckled in agreement. This made my scowl deepen. Geniuses making fun of my intelligence was common back at Wammy's I'd would prank Roger's office and remind people just how "stupid" I was. Better yet, I'd help a new kid, someone who spoke a different language, get to know the place, or get into someone's head via psychology. Oh what I read when I'm bored. This was different, this made me slightly ticked.

"Am I? Alright, let me put it this way. Listen to the wording of the second video and the last one. The overall tone is different. If I was given one word to describe the tone it'd be submissive," I said as I pushed through the crowd pausing as I saw Aizawa walk into the room. He shook his head as he handed me a map with the path leading to where Light was being held was marked. I nodded and turned toward him. "I'll be back later, I'm going to see what I can get from the Light and Misa before I go back." He nodded as I went to see Light, passing Mogi leading Mr. Yagami on my way.

I looked up at Mogi in question and he in turn turned toward Mr. Yagami. I frowned at his eyes, sorrow distress and a little hatred aimed toward me. I bowed my head and knew what had happened, he too was going to be in confinement with his son. I can't say I saw it coming, but I couldn't say that I didn't. It was a possibility in my book.

"I'm sorry Mr. Yagami, if there's anything you need just let me know. You're not the one Ryuzaki and I suspect, no need to punish yourself," I mumbled my voice low and sincere, avoiding his gaze so he couldn't see my weakness. I felt his hand on my shoulder in forgiveness. I raised my eyes as the older man forced a smile. I stood there for a moment as he was lead further into the building, leaving me to slowly make my way to Light.

The brunette was sitting on his bed, hands cuffed shoes taken off. His head lifted as the door slammed. He smirked slightly, holding most of it back as I looked at him with a nonchalant expression. I hooked my thumbs wishing I had something that made me more threatening, or at least gave me the appearance.

"Light," I said tilted my head to the side as I looked around the cell, it was drab basic dull colors, and the camera was in plain sight. "Want to know my honest opinion? I hate you, I can see no flaw in you other that you're secret and you lie like it's the truth. Nobody is as perfect as you seem to be, it's impossible. This isn't why I think your Kira - no this is why I know you're Kira. So tell me Light, how do you kill?" The brunette looked at me, sizing me up, it was going to be a battle of the minds. He was at a great disadvantage I've only shown him parts of my actual intelligence, not giving him much to work off of. I pulled an apple from my pocket. "You know, the night that Misa sent us that tape about Shinigami I lost something. That something was an apple. 'L, did you know? Gods of death love apples.'"

"Ebony, I don't know how to explain something I am not conscious of," said Light trying his best not to lose his cool. As far as I could tell, I was right, but even his eyes weren't showing me conformation. I moved closer to the cell and looked into it. I muttered loud enough for him to hear that he was a liar. His eyes widened slightly and shifted a little toward the right, his left. I followed his gaze and stared at the wall.

"Hmm, you maybe schizophrenic. That's a flaw." I tapped my chin and leaned forward. "Not talking hmm? Well, you'll come around I have plans for you Yagami. Plans of torture…I can torture him, right?" I waited, hopefully someone was watching this. Note to self: take a page from Mello's handbook of interrogation.

"Not at this time Ebony, please restrain yourself." I frowned and sat on the floor, my left side touching the bars. I pulled my knees to my chest and tapped my foot letting my eyes dig into his. Neither one of us were saying anything and people hate silence, myself included. I put my hands on the ground and leaned against the wall as I pushed myself up, doing a handstand. I tilted my head and eventually a smile spread across my face.

"You know this is pretty hilarious when you think about it. You're here and if the killings stop you're Kira and then I get to have fun getting a confession out of you. If they continue you walk free. If you are Kira, you've probably given the murder weapon to someone, if that's the case the killings will continue and you get to walk free. If you're not Kira, the killings will continue regardless. You have us in a very particular position Light Yagami."

I nodded toward the camera signaling that I didn't want this particular moment to be seen in front of everyone. I bent over and pushed myself up onto my feet and dusted my hands off as I climbed up and unplugged L's feed from the camera, and the police's. I landed lightly and then looked at the brunette. I popped my knuckles as I locked the door, he seemed to me to be the kind of person who would gloat once he is backed into a corner and when he knows the way out.

"You think you're clever don't you?" asked Light darkly and quietly. I considered this and nodded walking over and sitting cross legged in front of the brunette. "I'm not Kira, there is no solid proof. Like I said at the hotel I don't want any doubt in my mind that I am Kira." I turned my head from him.

"Liar, you may be good at convincing people through words and fake expressions, but your eyes don't hide anything. You know, I can read your eyes, so why do you continue to try to fool me? It's pointless." I pulled a string from my pocket and started playing Cat's Cradle with it. I made an eye on my right hand. "Everyone has secrets Light Yagami. My secrets include my real name, where I'm from, pretty much every aspect of my past. What are yours?" I pulled on the slack, the eye closing as I stood up and plugged the wires back into the camera and left the room.

I left the police station in a skip, looking up as something in my pocket vibrated. I picked it up and tilted my head to the side. I looked around and answered the phone, a smile lighting my face up as I turned into a store, I was craving a plum. "Good afternoon Ryuzaki," I sang as I found the produce. My eyes took in the colors as my mouth waters slightly.

"Did he say anything?" I picked up a plum and lightly squeezed it, not ripe enough. I set it down and put my hand on my hip. Closing my eyes, I bowed my head and shook my head. I ran my hand over the fruit and picked up another plum, testing it, frowning nope not that one. All I want is a good plum, is that too much to ask for?

"Straight to business as always. No, he didn't say anything but he would if we were to give him two days of Chinese Water Torture sessions. That actually works ya know, Mmmmy friend tried it once, on me, took it two hours and I cracked. It's humane because it's only dripping water." I nodded and picked up another plum, finding it ripened to my liking. I picked up a bag and put the single fruit in there and picked up a bag of grapes.

"That maybe so, but I think we should wait until the killings stop." I smiled he sounded positive that they would. I shifted the fruit in my hands and pulled out the credit card that was returned to me about a month ago as I checked out at the counter, ripping the bag open and pulling out the fruit, throwing the plastic bag away.

"Then I'll wait impatiently as always, maybe we should take a break go to the park. Maybe you could teach me capoeria or something," I said hopefully smiling like the child I was still acting like. The conversations we have at night were interesting. I took a bite of the plum and jumped in the middle of the street excited. "It'd be fun, and I could teach you how to be a kid, it'll be fun! Hey, I gotta go. Bye Ryuzaki!" I hung up after he answered my good-bye. I took another bite from my plum and walked into the building and pulled the handcuffs from my pocket.

"Hello?" asked Misa as I noisily walked in. It was nice not having to worry about being scolded for being here when I wasn't supposed to be. The power wasn't going to my head, I was just enjoying the freedom. She was still tied up on the chair, Watari watching her from the table. I turned toward the camera, a blinking red light was my only sign of it working.

"Good afternoon Misa, it's only me. Mr. Stalker and I have some-what came to an agreement, you'll be able to move around but the blindfold remains on and hands bound." The blonde nodded as I warned her about the cold metal. Watari put a drill and a metal ring already welded to a base on the table. I took the tools and walked over to the wall and began working.

Within five minutes we sat facing each other, legs crossed. I had to be careful, like last night I knew that if I said the wrong thing I would be framed to be just as much as a "creepy stalker" as L, and then there goes the sliver of trust I had. I lead her hands to the bag of grapes. I let her eat a couple. Again, silence seemed to be the melody of my life.

" Eri, why are you here?" I looked up alarm in my eye, happy she still had the blindfold over her eyes. Granted she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, her actually being able to read my eyes was actually going to be pretty difficult. I still had to be careful, she was expecting a believable lie, however there was none I could come up with. I put a grape in my mouth and smiled slightly.

"I'm a friend of Light's sister, Mr. Stalker called me to see if I could help comfort you seeing how I had ties to the family. He assumed we might've seen each other," I lied as I inspected the green fruit before putting it in my mouth. "The questions are coming naturally I'm curious." Misa nodded and started asking more questions about my past, all of which I lied in the answer putting pieces of the truth in there.

"Misa if I may, what do you know about Kira?" I laced my fingers together and rested my elbows on my knees and looked at the wall, and sighed as I decided to grab her wrist, my index finger and thumb over her vein, if she lied I'd be able to tell. Just in case she was as eloquent as her boyfriend, not likely, but still.

"Kira? He's my hero, I'd do anything to meet him, and next to Light Yagami he's the love of my life. If I could meet Kira, it would make my life!" Misa gushed, this was similar to the questions last night and unlike last night I wasn't looking for trust. I mean I was, but I was more focused on the weird memory lapse. So far she confirmed that she had no clue about what was going on in reality, that a big chunk of her memory was gone.

"I see, how did you meet Light Yagami?" I looked at the blonde as she paused, stiffened and frowned. She didn't remember. This could mean a lot of things, but as far as I could tell from this interrogation as I moved on to her normal life, family and other minor details, anything doing with Light and her relations to Kira were gone. There was just one more thing I had to ask and test.

I closed my eyes and clenched my fists. This is the moment I wish I thought things through and didn't make things up as I went along because right now I thought about doing something incredibly stupid. If I were to die, all my personal thoughts and deductions on this case would be lost, but again once I get the impulse to do something, I normally don't back down.

I opened my eyes as I took the blindfold off, letting it fall to the floor, the sound of plastic hitting the white tiled floor rang through the air. I slowly opened my eyes as Misa wiped hers, letting them focus into the light. I bit my lip as she looked at me and smiled.

Her eyes were blue like Mello's and my own, however they weren't Icy like his, nor were they dark like the blue colored pencil from Crayola like mine were. They were like the sky. She was naïve, this was obvious but there was something in her eyes that didn't add up. The dark shadow that I had seen in Light's eyes wasn't there. I sat back and let her look at me, not daring to say anything. I needed that picture.

"Eri, what's going on?" she asked softly as I pulled the blindfold toward me, just in case. My heart started beating in my ears as I just sat there. "Eri?" she was started to sound panicked. I needed that picture, and I needed it soon. I needed a valid comparison and once again my memory was being completely awesome.

"I'm sorry Misa," I said softly as I looked at the blindfold, turning slightly toward the camera as I scratched my cheek and looked at the blonde, this was becoming too quiet. "I'm alive. But, there was proof that…" I trailed off and stood up and started pacing. I couldn't think out loud, not with the subject of my thoughts in front of me.

Misa watched me in interest, her eyes sparkling innocently in the light. This made no sense, she was Kira B, the fake copy-cat. However, standing there in front of her I could say that she was completely and utterly innocent in her mindset. I needed some more fruit, grapes weren't cutting it for me right now, I was going to need something like an entire watermelon and a butt load of coffee.

I knelt down and put the blindfold back on and said that I just remembered something that involved a made up school project. I stood up and saw Watari nod at me as I ran out of the building and back to the hotel. I almost asked for a ride, but Misa needed to be observed with someone nearby at all times, just in case.

Something didn't add up, people just don't forget who Kira is, people don't just forget killing someone by a heart attack. Something wasn't adding up, either Kira's "power" could just get up and leave, could it? If it could then we'll never catch Kira, a new race would evolve and they would be crazed killers. I still believed that talking with BB would help solve a lot of our questions, mainly how those eyes worked, I was 69% sure that he had them.

* * *

**I'm not dead! Well if I did, I'd find a way to tell someone to post the rest of this story, of what I have written. ANYWAY, moving onto a happy topic, I'm not totally exhausted like I was planning on. I'm a proud flute player, but I also have Arthritis and I can't march long-term which is needed. So this year I was moved to Percussion, the Pit to use the lingo. **

**Thanks for your patience, and for reading, reviewing, favoriteing, and alerting, you guys rock! So, here's my responses to your reviews. **

**To: Torixx: **_I wish I could dance, but I have no rhythm whatsoever. We just got a new colorguard teacher and even though I'm not in Guard, he seems cooler than our old one. Thanks for the compliment on the story, I'm here to entertain. _

**To: Kashgal and Natures Ruler: **

_**Ebony:**_ _*hears faint echo* Hey, anyone else hear that? _

_**Matt:**__ …Duuuudddeee this is just like real life Resident Evil! Anyone have a shotgun…or Zombie repellant?_

_**Ebony:**__ Matt…I think this is a real person, Zombie's drag their guts and legs behind them….this person is clearly running._

_**Matt:**__ AWW! I wanted to practice my Zombie Killing Skills._

_**Ebony:**__ What skills? Have you ever seen a zombie? _

_**Pie:**__ SHHH! She's…he….it….whatever I give up! Whoever is chasing us is getting closer. Hey Ebony, use your memory and genius brain to figure out how far this person is._

_**Ebony:**__ ….no._

_**Pie:**__ PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEE! _

_**Ebony:**__ Alright, only because if I don't I'm afraid I'll be next. *tilts head to the side in thought*_

_**Matt:**__ Ebony…_

_**Ebony:**__ Not now, I'm doing math._

_**Matt:**__ But it's important._

_**Pie:**__ Yeah…she's here. _

_**Ebony: **__*Turns to NR in shock*….crap._

* * *

**To: Rinnu:**_ Ebony is just what…? I'M CONFUSED DX In other comments, I hope I am keeping up the good work, you and everyone else who reads this is the final judge. _

**To: Prince of Oriel: **_"Pie-sama" O.O If you're going to use a suffix please use "-chan" "-sama" makes me feel to important. Anyways, I read "Survivor" in my free time…when I could've been editing, that's beside the point, and I loved it! I'm glad you love my story, it makes me feel all happy inside._

_To be honest all my characters come from inside me. (I don't like advertizing, I am only making these references for the sake of my point.) Ebony is my crazy, loud, klutzy, and yet somehow still "smart" though I have to say she's smarter than me. Google is a friend of mine. I have a Durarara! Fanfict and the protagonist I made there is my sadistic manipulative side that never comes out, and I'm working on a Kuroshitsuji (Black butler) story and there I bring out my observational quiet side there… I feel like I've over explained this… oh well. _

_And finally, I know what Ebony's real name is, I just want to see how subtle my clues are. The longer the story goes on the more obvious it becomes and then at the end I plan on reveling it. You have the first letter of her surname right though, majority of the clues are for her first name. _


	15. Chapter 15 Bonding Time with L

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or anything else referenced here. If I did, Death Note would be classified as a comedy. **

**Chapter Fifteen Bonding Time With L **

Warm brown eyes, one innocent, the other not so much. One was a sketch, the other was a photo, but they told two different stories. They were of the same person, and although the darker eyes-metaphorically speaking the actually pigment was exactly the same from drawing to photograph-weren't as dark as Light's they were still hiding something. Something I was really close to uncovering, but it was clear to me at this point-a week since Light was put into custody-that I was going to get nowhere in the interrogations other than figuring out everything she has forgotten based on what she's already revealed.

Let me tell you this much, from what my gut says it's not much. I had only scratched the ever-so delicate surface that was what Misa knew. Though, using of these pictures was hard. The eyes, though belonged to a living person on a piece of paper it was slightly harder to read, they were unchanging. I couldn't bring up topics and monitor their change. Man, now that I think about it, my eye reading makes me sound like a stalker. Matt was right, this is creepy.

Speaking of Light, I lifted my head and looked at the older teen strapped to the table, forced to look at the dingy ceiling as a drop of water dripped on his head every two seconds. This might not look like it was comfortable, but it was. Well, until you have to go to the bathroom and the thought of being strapped to a bed sinks in. Then panic ensues and the twisted blonde that strapped you to the table laughs evilly at you as he snaps off a piece of his chocolate. I was being considerate; I've been in the very same position before, not my fault everyone else frowned upon it.

"Thirsty?" I asked into a microphone as I continued to study the pictures. "Try to lower your head, the water might run down for face, it might take a while, it doesn't look like you can move much," I continued happily, the tone forced and it was evident. The earbud I didn't have in my ear was wrapped around my finger as Light glared, the best he could, at the camera. I smiled at the song, it actually fit the moment. "Enemies" by a group called Shinedown, I mean at this point was there any question whether or not Light and I were enemies? If there was, allow me to clear that up for you; I have him in a session of Chinese Water torture trying to break his will, yeah I totally love the guy. Note the sarcasm, though this is text, kind of hard to portray that state of mind.

"Ebony, I think that Light hates you now, have you considered the slight possibility that he isn't Kira?" mumbled L in question. I shrugged and squeezed the cloth cover of the microphone. Light hates me, normally bile would build up in the pit of my stomach at the simple thought. I found my humorous nature agreeable because nobody is safe from its wrath. Perhaps it's because the feeling is neutral, I hate him, he hated me, is the reason why I don't really care? It's the only thing I could come up with. I blinked as I tilted my head to the side, Light eyes.

Barely seen by the camera, but seen nevertheless. The chocolate brown was darkened, more so than normal. I leaned forward, the pixels of the screen coming into view as I saw what was behind them, thoughts of ways to harm me. I was well acquainted with this gaze, he's about 5'7" blonde, cold blue eyes, yeah him. This was going a step further than just breaking my nose, arm, or leg. His eyes wanted to see be collapse on the floor dead.

"That may be so, however we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Personally I don't think we will, the guy is more fake that a bronze tan in the middle of Canada's winter, but if push comes to shove I'll apologize like the bigger 'man' I am." My fingers air quoted the word "man" to further the figurative speech. I pressed the button of the microphone and spoke in my fake cheery voice again. "So are ya ready to talk?" I already could guess the answer to this question, it had only been five minutes. The brunette was far from breaking, and I was positive on it. Though, at the same time he knew the cold drop of water would stop in an instant if he started talking. Light didn't say a word. "I'll take that as a no." I put the microphone back on the table.

I turned back to the pictures, furrowing my brow as I turned in my chair so that I wasn't sideways anymore, facing the back of the chair as I dropped down and hung upside down, taking my thinking to the next level. The threat level of the actual professional taken photograph was startling, warning bells were going off in my head and gut that if I saw Misa on the day those pictures were taken, something bad might've happened. Other than that, from what I can tell you about her eyes, the only real noticeable change was the tone of love was different, and I only saw that because I was looking for it. In the dark picture, the love was more like worship, compared to the light innocent love from the sketch of her lighter eyes.

"Ebony, you've been studying those pictures for the past week. Would you mind sharing what you've deduced?" I let out a small squeak and jumped, hitting my head on the table, and the fell off of the chair. Ebony styled gracefulness strikes again. I looked up at the detective and then at my sketch and the photo. Copying L's position on the couch, after pulling myself up and rubbing my forehead a few times, wood hurts. I put the pictures on the table in front of the monitors of Light and Misa. I pulled the hand drawing closer by a few centimeters.

"Misa A is scared, clueless, innocent, in love, almost trusting. She might be hiding a lot from us-I mean look at the position she's in. The only thing we really haven't touched is her preference in underwear. NO! I don't want to know what kind you found in her dresser either. Ya know Misa might be right, you are a pervert." I frowned slightly at him, narrowing my eyes in a comedic fashion. "Anyways, compared to the picture from her photo shoot, the eyes here have a dark secret. It's not as dark as Light's eyes, but it's still there. It makes since though, Kira B hasn't killed nearly as many people as Kira A. Even though the eyes are exactly alike, the photo shoot picture doesn't sit right in my stomach for some reason, reasons I simply can't explain."

"That was just a precaution to make sure the murder weapon wasn't within her house," L responded to the pervert comment. I held my hands up in a gesture of surrender, nodding. I explained that I understood, that I was merely joking, pulling his leg, being me. L turned and looked at me with his permanent widened eyes.

"What? Something's going through that head of yours don't try to hide it. I will resort to begging and my ace-the puppy dog eyes. Not even Mello can resist them, and that kid's got some high tolerance for things that are freaking adorable," I stated shrugging at the Mello comment, dissecting L's eyes. Whatever he was thinking about, it was about me. My playful smile wavered slightly, I hated where this was going, motives, personality, my past.

"Ebony, why do you act the way you do?" he asked turning toward me, now crouching sideways on the very comfortable hotel chair. He lifted his thumbnail to his mouth and began biting on it. My sarcastic smile melted off of my face even more, softening into a genuine smile. I was waiting on this question. I mean, it's clear to everyone here that I'm intelligent. I've proved this much in my stay here. What baffled people was my attitude toward all of this. Unless you really knew me, you'd think I was playing hide-and-seek.

Nodding slowly I looked at my hands in my lap as I leaned back into the chair. My hair hid my eyes, I pushed the curtain next to L behind my ear as I considered how I was going to answer the question. This was something that I normally wouldn't talk about. This topic revealed my motives for being last at Wammy's-one of my closest kept secrets. My _name_ my _real name_ was less valuable to me than this piece of information. Though, now that I think about it they are about up to par right now. If Light got my real name I'd kick the bucket end of story.

"Expectations," I mumbled after a long pause, "I don't like things being expected of me. If I hadn't hidden my true intelligence level, everyone would want me to be the next….well you. I hate feeling like my fate has been chosen for me, so I acted stupid so that I had the option. Then, as your successor people would expect someone similar to you behind the laptop, not a wise-cracking teenager. So, I defy expectation without breaking the rules, just taking the unsaid route." I looked at L's direction and read his eyes, understanding where I was coming from. He didn't exactly fit into expectations either. I felt a cold hand over mine and I looked up to meet his eyes. He removed his hand, clearly confused on what he had just done. I let it go, this was just like talking to Near, though L didn't seem as detached as the white schemed kid.

"You still came here though. Mind if I ask why?" I chuckled and pointed out that he already had asked. "I suppose you have a point there, will you answer?" I paused at this, clearly hesitating. My breath caught for a brief moment and I looked at the light crème colored carpet in thought. I could tell him that Matt pressured me into it, but that wasn't the entire truth. I had my own reasons, though I had my own questions. I looked at L with a flat expression.

"I'll answer your question," I started with a nod. "However, I have a few questions to ask of my own." L nodded as he was handed a slice of pie, me a fruit parfait. The detective nodded and rested the fork on his mouth after taking a bite of the strawberry decorated cake. "I came because I was curious. Sure I could've sat back and watched things from England and kept low-key, but I was growing bored. If I've learned anything in my fifteen some-odd years of life I have found three tips that I have found useful. One, never mess with your cake, you are very possessive over your sugar. Two, if gang members storm your house hide under the bed, most are too thick headed to check there and you survive to live another day. Finally, never tell Roger you're bored. I know Japanese, Spanish, Russian, and German because I complained about my boredom he handed me English to that language dictionaries, and I eventually read them out of boredom now I can speak five languages fluently and fly a plane or helicopter."

"I see, and your questions for me?" Tilting my head to the side, I took hold of the metal spoon and stirred the yogurt and fruit mixture. Sticking my tongue out like this was a very delicate matter that if my spoon slipped the entire hotel was going to come crashing down, didn't want that to happen. I lifted my spoon slightly out of the yogurt and then started stirring again.

"I have quite a few. None of these are about who you really are, I am satisfied with my mental profile on you based on what I've seen these past six months. These are-like your questions, motive-centric. First would seem pretty obvious, why did you chose me out of all the kiddos in Wammy's?" I looked up, my eyes were widened in my curiosity as I faintly paid attention to the sounds of Light pulling on his restraints, his time slowly climbing to the hour mark. He was only half way done, I limited his sessions to only two hours, lucky.

"I chose you because based on your behaviors and what Watari had observed from your young age, it resembled me in a way," the raven haired panda-man hybrid said. I tilted my head to the side in confusion, super-smart-detective-say-whaaa? L smirked, taking another bite of cake. "You have a keen eye for detail, remember your 'test' to get into the orphanage?" A single piece on a chess board moved, and I was the only one-a simple 9 year old- noticed it. "You also have a rebellious nature, I will admit I'm not too fond to play by the rules at times myself."

"Yeah, rules are a total drag. Though, I can pride myself from turning the list to a lecture at Wammy's now it's 'No running in the house, this includes jogging, fast walking, skipping, or sliding in your socks.' Poor Roger," I praised myself sitting sideways again. "Alright, was hacking into Mello's laptop, turning it on, and linking up the Japanese article a test, more importantly how did you know I knew the language? Like that would stop me, Google Translate has always been Matt's tool."

"It was, for Mello. You just happened to be in the same room and noticed it before him. I was also listening into the entire conversation, hoping Mello would speak his thoughts. You two have a very interesting relationship." I laughed and completely agreed with the detective. I finished off the parfait and put the glass cup-bowl thing on the table. "I have another question, regarding Wammy's inner society." Nodding I waited for the detective to continue, studying the light burnt orange walls, my hand slipping into my pocket where a single slip of paper resided. "You mentioned there is an unsaid rule, about sharing your names, could you explain that a little more?"

My watched beeped at me and I shifted forward to let the police department know to go ahead and let the silent teenager free from my contraption. Then, I studied my nails, trying to form the rule into words, it was an understanding. Never did the lot of us sit around and discuss this topic, it just was something we all knew. It was like elevator etiquette, how many people have to be told to walk in and turn around to face the magical sliding portal from elevator shaft to the destined floor?

"Knowing me, I probably explained how it was linked to trust. This isn't just any trust, the kind of trust that is associated with name sharing is typically compared to that of the trust of family. Though most of us don't remember-or know-what that feeling is. Those who do, we explain it the best we can. It's a warmth from the pit of your stomach, a nice warmth. The trust felt is genuine, the paranoia filled fear of shared secrets isn't there, whenever you are together everyone just knows that you are upset, no matter how well someone is at covering it up. That kind of trust is hard to come by, and we're all paranoid about our real names at that point. So, knowing there is someone that can be trusted with information as protected as that. To be honest Ryuzaki, I've shared information with you that I deem more vital than my name." I laid the slip of paper on the table, the detective's eyes almost unnoticeably watching my hand.

There was a slim chance-17%- that what information written on the page was going to be returned to me. Though I was positive L knew what was written on the small sheet of paper, two words 11 letters scrambled into a mess. The detective started to reach out, and then paused, turning his head to look at me. Shocked was one of the emotions that passed through me at that moment. He was actually asking for my permission. I nodded once as he went ahead and grabbed the folded sheet of paper.

"Interesting," he mumbled. I watched as he let the letters click into place, or what I thought was. "Is it customary to share one's name back?" I shrugged and explained that it was always up to the other party, using Mello as an example. I was almost positive he only told me because I had told him first, and it took him a month before he told me his name. I was shocked when he said it, the way he did I was sure I was going to get punched for doing something I hadn't, or maybe I had done it. Mello was always hard to predict.

"In all honestly I don't expect anything in return. I wanted to tell you, I had planned on it. I just didn't know when I'd get around to it. I've had that in my pocket for," I trailed off and looked at the date on my laptop that was on the floor in front of me, "two months and 20 days. I figured now would be the perfect time, I already told you what I have only told Matt."

My bare feet met the soft carpet as I slowly walked to the window, looking out it and taking in the lights of the Japanese skyline, the sun setting behind the buildings on the horizon. The killings have stopped, just as predicted. Light's plan-assuming the 19% that said he was innocent was wrong- was going according to plan, and this deeply troubled me. Everyday I'd tell him that there was no killings-on his request-he would smirk ever so slightly. Light was Kira, he knew we'd come to this conclusion. Now, I was only curious as to how he was going to disprove this fact. Erasing his memory, how was this going to be possible? Amane I could understand she was completely stressed. Looks like we were going to have to wait and see.

"Ebony," My name caught my attention and I turned toward the mane of hair that was L's crouched form as he put the paper on the table. Watari was standing behind the young man. He must've came in when I was in deep thought, wasn't the first time that I've missed details because I was preoccupied with my own thoughts. "I've been thinking, and assuming what your answer would be I already made arrangements," the pale detective started. I frowned at the assumption, his eyes flashed apologetically. "How would you feel if you were given the opportunity to go back to England for a week?" My eyes widened as my relaxed position almost crumbled from shock. L blinked, unsure what to do next. I nodded my head and gestured for him to continue, there had to be a catch, nothing was straight forward anymore. "Now, I can't afford you falling behind on the case, and you have been appointed to be in charge of the interrogations, though I am curious how you are going to get Light to talk, he seems strong willed. Regardless, you will be given another laptop so that yours may be used for the surveillance cameras. The one Watari and myself will be loaning you will have all the new information and will be used for communication. You will also be required to wear an earpiece in case we come across needing urgent attention. Ebony, are you alright?"

My eyes were still wide, going "home?" In my mind I saw Matt's smiling face, Mello's permanent scowl, and Near's emotionless gaze. Then, the image changed to Mello spitting fire at the albino kid and Mat rolling his eyes as he buried his nose in a hand held game. Hey, I never said we were the perfect group of friends, the fact of Mello and Near unable to be in the same room together alone without the poor white haired kid almost dying, alright I may be exaggerating there. I felt my eyes return to a normal state as I let the opportunity that had been handed to me sink in, a week to hang out and be the kid I still was. I looked at Watari and then L, there was a 76% chance that the old man had suggested it on one of the nights I was asleep. Wait, did it matter? I was going home!

"You made a rightful assumption Ryuzaki, thank you. Seeing how you already booked the flight, when am I leaving?" I asked my voice surprisingly even, calm, and low smiling, bowing my head trying to keep my tears from spilling over. I wasn't sad, or scared, worried. I was happy, the anticipation was swelling up within me. I was about to explode like a fruit filled piñata that was overstuffed. Speaking of my love of fruit, was I sure I hadn't eaten a bad parfait? I mean, this could be a hallucination. I smiled, my white teeth no doubt glowing in the low light of the hotel room. It didn't matter this was the best allusion ever, I don't care if I could be classified as schizo, this was heartwarming.

"Your flight leaves late tonight. I assume you haven't bothered unpacking considering how our lifestyle has been, I will simply put the extra equipment on your bed. I suggest you to take a nap on the plane, it's been two nights since your last night's sleep." Sleep, what was that? Oh-wait I remember, sleep the process of rejuvenating the mind, something L shouldn't be lecturing me about.

"Yeah, sleep is important. That is, excluding yourself. Ryuzaki my friend you should get some sleep as well. I don't recall ever seeing you sleep, and that's saying something," I responded jumping into my chair, picking up the slip of paper on the table in front of the monitors. Unfolding it, I didn't even pay attention to the scrambled chicken scratch that was my name. My eyes were focused on the careful graceful handwriting that I came to know as L's the first name caught me off guard; _L._ So, that was his real name, the second name was _awiletl_. Lawliet, his name was L Lawliet.

I bowed my head and smiled, my bangs-though they could hardly be called that at this point- fell in front of my eyes, and face. They were more like a curtain of hair that reached my chin, the rest of my hair was now to the middle of my back. I needed a haircut, things were slow I could afford taking five minutes to cut my hair, right? I parted my hair and pushed them behind my ears. Aside from tomorrow, I think, this was probably going to be one of the most remembered days of my life. "Thanks Ryuzaki," I mumbled, smiling to myself. He nodded, moving his thumb to his lips, clearly curious on how I was taking the news.

I stood up, taking a detour to the kitchen to get some scissors for my hair and then to the part of the suite that was mine. I turned on the light and looked at the thrown suitcase on the floor, the sleeves of my elbow length sleeved shirts poking out of the lid. Maybe I should try folding those, then again that takes effort. I'm a genius, not a maid. Turning to my bathroom, I walked in, keeping the door open as I picked up the trashcan and put it in the sink, frowning as I had to use the stool that came with the room so I was taller than the bin. Curse my small stature.

I picked up hair from my bangs as I heard someone walk through the room, setting something on the bed. I carefully trimmed the hair to flow to the left, with my natural part, just above my eye, my right eye seen clear as day. I then pulled the blanket of hair and trimmed that down to between my shoulder blades. I smirked, it's as if I never left. My hair was still a reflection of my name, and my eyes a bright, deep blue. Though, the shine in my eyes, it wasn't as bright. The childish nature I was known for was changing. Maybe the detective was rubbing off on me.

Speaking of the detective, if I was going to be using a laptop for communication, I was going to go all out. This means L doesn't get to see my bright shining face, let the funny faces while he talks begin! If I was going to use this, I needed my own "E" insignia. L used Old English Text MT, but the E on that text looked funny, not me-too fancy. Personally I like Lucida Handwriting, or Backadder ITC. Backadder was a little cooler in my opinion, that solves one issue.

I jumped off of the plastic stool and into "my" bedroom and put my laptop, L's laptop, butt loads of wires into the suitcase, top pocket away from all of my clothes, and my sketchbook and pencil collection, living life like a gypsy was tiring. Like I said, my clothes aren't even folded. I say that like they were folded back at Wammy's, they weren't.

I brought my own thumb to my lips in thought. I knew this from experience, Wammy's kids are curious, and we knew how to get things. At least, Matt, Mello, and I were. PO box baby, Roger was none the wiser, mainly because we went to look at it late at night but that's beside the point. During my first year at Wammy's I had found B's room. It was kind of hard to miss, a "B" written on a door in jam wasn't exactly something a normal person-let alone a genius-to miss. I learned how to pick a lock that day. Going back to the jam for a moment, yes I had actually scraped some of it off of the door and tasted it, curiosity killed the cat.

Speaking of picking locks, I got side-tracked. If I was going back "home" I was going to need a way to ensure that nobody would be able to get into the laptops, and I mean nobody, not even Matt. I knew that hacking into them was out of the question, Matt secured my laptop himself. I also didn't keep any information on the thing anyways. L was also not lacking in the realm of security.

I was also reluctant to use a password-don't even go there-Matt knew my "go-to" password and coming up with another password wouldn't be worth it, because I'd forget and I'd have to spend five minutes playing through my hands playing on the keyboard to find out what my freaking password is. Then I'd write it down thinking it'd be easier for me to remember. Then Matt would get his hands on it and then I was screwed. Sometimes I wished the Lion Kings' Hakuna Matata words rang true no matter the situation.

My solution actually goes back to the beginning. If Near can hide a sharpie black bobby pin in his snow white hair, I can hide one in my own jet black hair. I wanted this to be a secret though, even though it probably wasn't going to remain so. Knowing my reputation, I was going to want to try out a prank that I have been holding off simply because it would take me 2 hours to set up alone. I was going to need help simple as that, I can buy an hour at most. This was one of those "go big or go home" plans. Thank-god I was in a genius orphanage.

"Ebony, we have to depart now if we want to get you on your flight," Watari said pulling me from my thoughts by knocking on the door. I turned and looked at the old man and nodded then turned to my unzipped suitcase and jumped on it, using my weight to zip it up. Turning my head to the side I closed my eyes and smiled as I stood up and pulled the overstuffed suitcase, that wouldn't be in that state if I bothered to fold my clothes.

Following the old man I paused in the man room and turned to the young adult crouched on his chair. "Thanks L, this means a lot to me. You should take a break too, you've been thinking too much. Your panda-eyes are getting more panda-y. Take a nap, watch some anime, we're in Japan for crying out loud!" I smiled again as the detective looked at me and turned the corner of his lips up slightly.

"Have fun Ebony, you deserve this break," he simply replied turning back to the monitors. I scoffed, some break. By day I get to be Ebony Kage, crazy orphan that everyone likes simply because I can hide and show off my genius at the same time, and my pranks. Seeing Roger so red in anger that he'd blend in with all the strawberries L eats in a day is priceless. By night I turn to Ebony…uh Kage…super genius detective-in training.

Skipping through the hallway, Watari insisting on taking my suitcase, I smiled. My heart was pumping endorphins through my veins as I was told that I was going to be flying solo. Safety rules included not talking to strangers, but taking in my facial features it'd be amazing if anyone did talk to me. I looked like I didn't belong in Japan, more like America, Ireland, England, ya know places west of this here.

"Calm down Watari, I managed to survive gang attack when I was five, I think I can survive going through an airplane ride in one piece," I sighed as I jumped into the car and hugged my knees smiling like I was nine again, going to Wammy's for the first time, this time the nervousness gone from the pit of my stomach. Going "home" seeing my family, there was no other way to explain the society of Wammy's in my mind.

"You are aware you're still ranked correct?" I nodded distantly, frowning. Here I thought I wasn't going to have to deal with a very mad Mister Princess Blondie until Kira was behind bars and everyone is still on a happy boat on that, well everyone but Mello. Yeah I couldn't win either way, I mean I was working with the blonde's hero. I'd hate me too. In his mind bumping him down to third was the flame to the gasoline.

"Yeah, this week is going to be interesting. Mello will get over it. Once I explain to him why, he'll cool down slightly and then I'll give him an offer, probably telling him about L, and then we'd be ice and fire friends again." I sat back and crossed my arms and smiled to myself. The airport coming into view, all I had to do is go through security and then onto the plane. The rocking of the metal death bird eventually rocked me to sleep, I had twelve hours, don't judge.

* * *

**So the next three chapters will be Ebony at Wammy's. Why? Simply because I don't think three chapters at the beginning is enough. These aren't fillers per-say, I mean there is a lot that happens during the chapters in terms of figuring out some of the lines that I ended up over-referencing after these chapters and what they mean.**

**So, there really isn't much to say in news pertaining to me, other than school but who cares. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and my other chapters, other than the chapter I had to totally rewrite, this is the most changed chapter from draft to finished product. **

**As always thanks for reading, favoriting, alerting, and reviewing.**

**To Kashgal and Nature's Ruler:**

_**Pie:**__ The squad? You mean there's more of you guys?_

_**Ebony:**__ And by K-9 room do you mean puppies? I like puppies, and kitties, and butterflies. _

_**Matt:**__ Are you alright Ebony? You're acting like…well….a girl_

_**Ebony:**__ Really? I'm a girl? This is news to me I was getting worried about what these things were *points to chest* _

_**Matt and Pie:**__ *sweat drop*_

_**Pie:**__ Anyways, where is this base, I'm sure we can get Matt-hacks-a lot to get us a lift and Ebony could probably dive. Then we can get the melodramatic blonde princess back._

_**Ebony:**__ *like a five year old whining* Do we have tooooo?_

_**Matt:**__ Yes, he's our best friend._

_**Ebony:**__ I thought that was you…_

_**Matt:**__ I thought I was your boyfriend…_

_**Ebony: **__*Eyes light up happily* Alright, Mells is my bffl. _

_**Pie:**__ *smiles and shakes head*_

**To: Prince of Oriel: **_Well you got two, the last letter of her surname is "E" the number of letters threw me off._

_The "-sama" threw me off, I don't think I am worthy of such a title. It made me smile ear-to-ear, thinking someone held me to that light, it was still kinda weird. _

_And you're completely right, I do have a loophole in store to episode 25 of the anime (Ch 25 of my fan fiction see what I did there?) In regards of saving vs. keeping to cannon on terms of L, you're just going to have to wait, I put a lot of thought behind what happened. Like, I was thinking about it as I was writing the opening sentences of chapter one, I'm still not positive on how everything is going to end in the end, but I'm close. So…that's all I'm going to say._

_I'm glad I made you feel awesome by responding. I always respond to every review, because the reviews make my day. Sorry I wasn't able to post this chapter while you were in Scotland, I am the editing Nazi on these things. I mean I'm paranoid on this chapter because I only edited it twice, and I normally edit it three times. _

**To Rinnu500:** _She meets BB, I'm not even going to try to hide that spoiler, I mean I changed the guy's death date, authors don't just to that to do it. There's reasoning behind that change, and it's obvious in that case. Now that you mention it, I really need to fix that chapter, the BB scene is way too short in my opinion, and it's already majority of the chapter, like four pages… Now, whether or not she does it behind L's back or not I'm not going to spoil nope nope nope. _

_I'm glad you think Ebony is awesome, I do too. In a way I wish I was more Ebony than I am. Her craziness came from somewhere. _


	16. Chapter 16 Home Sweet Home

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any other copyrighted material referenced, Ebony is my character and I claim her though, so…don't sue? K'thanks ^_^ **

**Chapter Sixteen "Home" Sweet "Home"**

Light poured in as I opened the familiar stained door that reintroduced me to the place I've called "home" since I was nine. The fancy intricate patterns on the wall were still there, the house keepers looked at me wide-eyed as I felt a smile spread across my face. Lowering my head from admiring the ceiling the housekeepers smiled and nodded as I turning to the right and went down the hallway that lead to the closets, I mean bedrooms. What kind of orphanage keeps kids in a room that there is only a foot too wide from being able to touch both walls with my hands in "T" formation. For a fancy place you would thing everyone would have grand bedrooms with a fountain of youth as a centerpiece, but nope as I've decribed before we have just enough to space to live. Unless you're Matt, then you have barely enough room to lay on the floor.

Pulling down at the polished handle I gently opened the door to my light blue painted room and unpacked the laptops, quickly coming to the conclusion that class was still in session, if I really wanted to look at the list and see my name "proudly" posted as number one, I could without having to worry about a certain blonde totally murdering me and making it look like it was an accident. Could Mello even do that? Even if he didn't know this off the top of his head he was second-third-for a reason. Personally I didn't care, a rank is like age, a number used for comparisons, just because someone is number one or the eldest doesn't mean they are the best for the job.

Sitting in my chair, sideways, I took apart the documents in the laptop L had loaned me, looking at what was on there. Maybe there were some secrets Mr. Detective Man wants only me to know so he designed this test to see how curious I was. To my demise, it was almost completely clean, the only thing really on there was stuff I already knew, who had been killed by Kira and how. I was the walking breathing computer of the case, Maybe I should ask L if he was going to be keeping me posted on victims, if they start dying again. I was liking this vacation already, maybe I could sneak in a nap, that would be awesome.

Turning my head toward the door I heard people, so much for thinking I was in one of those random nightmares where I am the last person on the planet. Then again, I did see those house keepers, but secretly we thought those people were robots, they never talked out loud with us around. Maybe aliens, that seemed more likely in my book, coming to Earth to observe human behaviors and reporting it to the mothership. Then again, Roger could've told them not to talk to us, nothing good happens when we talk to "normal" people, but that's the boring answer. I like my alien idea better, makes for a better story to tell the kids in the distant future. Even we geniuses are gullible to adults who have proved they are superior to us in terms of intelligence, hence why L has so much respect even though we've never actually seen him.

Walking out of my room, I turned the lock from inside the door and moved my hair to conceal the black bobby pin. Looking over my shoulder I didn't react in the slightest as the jealous stares of my fellow genius orphans. Now, I could be wrong, but I am sure that some of them had some spite in them, ouch. I know I was working with everyone's idol, returning without an announcement, leaving them to believe that I had returned because the case had been solved might be morally wrong in some people's minds. Was I going to correct them in the middle of the hall and list intelligent reasons why I was there while keeping some of the information of the case under wraps? No, their alternate reality of my success as L's right hand man was going to be the reality I was going to let them believe. It made me sound cooler that way, yeah kind of shallow of me but would you pass on this opportunity? Going from dead last, to first didn't happen every day and it was unfathomable to some of them, so letting them figure me out was a good mental exercise.

Walking two doors down, I stood face to wood with a white door that was like a clone of mine. Almost, my door had some paint chipped off thanks to my hot-headed neighbor. Leaning against the wood I heard the opening music of Zelda Skyward Sword, he's finished that game three times already. Though, that hasn't stopped him before, he's played the story of Final Fantasy 9 back-to-back before. Blinking I felt my heart hammer with excitement in my chest as I lifted my hand and gently knocked on the door, whereas I normally pounded on the door like I was a herd of elephants. It surprised people what can I say.

"Come-in," came Matt's muffled voice from the other side of the door. I opened the door to see the lights dimmed, the screen of his TV providing the only light. I smirked, he hadn't changed a bit. Stepping slightly into the doorway I leaned on the frame, tilting my head to the side as the red-head didn't even turn to look to see who wanted to pay him a visit. I crossed my arms as Matt's hands paused slightly, unsure why his unnamed visitor hadn't said a word. "Ya know staring at me isn't going to be very entertaining, all I do is sit here, if you wanted to stalk the now fourth here you might as well stick to the vents."

"Nah, the vents are too cramped, an' I get all sweaty, not fun," I said in response with a slight head shake, like this was any other day. I heard the familiar sounds of Zelda get paused as the wii mote hit the carpeted floor. The red-head pulled himself onto his knees, looking over the red beanbag chair in the middle of his floor, the emotion and light in his eyes obscured by the darkness as the orange goggles I had a copy of around my neck. He shot to his feet, stumbled a few times, and pulled me inside by my wrist and pulled into a close hug. His arms were wrapped around my waist, mine around his neck. Warm breath tickled my neck as I felt his arms flex, holding me tightly. He looked at me through his goggles, and then pulled them to hang around his neck, like mine did. A smile spread across his face, his dark blue eyes showing relief, I was alive, in one piece. Though we still continued our web chats, seeing each other in person was a nice change in pace, a good feeling of relief.

"Is it…over?" he asked gently holding my shoulders arms length. I looked at him sadly and shook my head. The goofy grin the gamer had on his face melted off, replaced with a confused scowl, his brow furrowed. "Then why are you back? Did you piss L off? Ebony what are we going to do with you?" I laughed at the change of tone from dead serious to sarcastic going off of the reputation I had when I was bored out of my mind. I shook my head and the confused look was back. He look freaking adorable, so adorable I could almost not form a sentence.

"L gave me a 'vacation' I'm here for the week, classes canceled as well as my bedtime. If we're going to hang out, then we should do it while I'm kinda rested." He nodded and hugged me again, the two of us left standing there for a moment, milking it for all that it was worth. Six months, I could get into the specifics I remember the exact time and date I left, for multiple reasons but I really don't want to get into that. It takes away from the magic that was this reunion.

"Hey Matt, can I borrow your…What the hell are you doing here?" Mello yelled walking into his friend's room, pointing at me like I was the she-devil. His icy blue eyes were wide, almost popping out of his head as the two of us calmly lifted our head to look at the blonde hurricane. Matt and I jumped a part, my cheeks feeling warm. Bowing my head, I hiding my tomato face, let's not give the blonde something to use against me. My head shot up as the sound of Mello's chocolate hit the floor, what abstract conclusion has Mello come to this time? "Oh don't tell me, you personally figured out the goddamn case and you're now here to gloat!" he stormed off without giving me a chance to explain, typical. Alright, maybe this time he wasn't thinking abstractly, but trust me, there had been some pretty weird conclusions brought to light by Mello.

"_I think that new Near kid is a freaking robot!" the blonde announced frowning at a text book at the foot of him as we hung out in the playroom, crossing his arms as he snapped off a piece of chocolate. I looked up from my prank book and Matt his game-boy. We were 10 at the time, Near had only been around for a week. The two of us looked at each other and then at the blonde who was dissecting the chocolate wrapper to make sure there weren't any crumbs._

"_What makes you say that Mells?" Matt asked curiously not looking up from his game. His voice flat, hinting that he really didn't care how or why Mello thought the new kid was a robot. "I mean, you thought Ebs was an alien once she saw that she was fifth in the rankings and started pranking Roger." I nodded with a smile, then frowning at the idea and tore the page out of my spiral, throwing it in the fire behind me. I then started a new one. Why there was a fire place where we played unsupervised was beyond me._

"_Shut-up! She is an alien! Going from quiet and using words I've never heard of to loud, obnoxious, and stupid isn't normal! She's an alien and there is my proof," Mello crossed his arms, huffing as the old couch squeaked under him. I smirked, this was just too easy. Of course I was going to craft my words in a way that explained my reasoning and supported his theory._

"_Oh course Mel, I observed you enough to come to my own conclusions on how you guys worked and then changed my behavior to fit. I was also testing how smart you were, it's actually quite the disappointment, I can beat you in chess with my eyes closed. Though, you will have to tell me what you move and where."_

"_That's like playing with your eyes open! Unless…you have a third eye under that mess you call hair!" I frowned and threw my pencil at him. He ducked under it and I frowned at him, my "mess" was tame. I brushed it. _

"_You're just jealous of the soft shininess of my hair," I said smirking as I caused Mello's eyebrow to twitch by putting hand on my forehead with my finger and thumb sticking out in an "L." I jumped as the sounds of Mario was paused and someone was petting me._

"_Mell, she's right, it is soft and shiny," Matt commented earning a frown from the blonde as he announced that there was a conspiracy against him. "Totally, that's why we hang out with you every day of the week." I nodded in sarcastic agreement._

"Well isn't he a bucket of sunshine?" I asked after snapping out of my flashback, brushing my arm against Matt's his arms still covered by a long sleeved black-and-white shirt. My expression a happy smile, eyes closed, like if I was a chibi my lips would be drawn with a "3" on its side. If cartoon sparkles were real, I'd be covered in them. I lost it and started laughing, my teeth showing in my smile, something that normally doesn't happen unless I'm elated. Matt chuckled nodded his head in agreement. He threw his arm around my neck and added his own comment.

"Sure, he's even more 'cheery' when he's not PMS'ing," he said drawing the two of us laughing together. I found myself leaning against him as I finally walked all the way into his room, laying on the beanbag as he picked up the Wii-mote again and started playing. He sat next to me, like I had never left Wammy's and I wasn't having a hard time keeping my speech in English. "So what can you tell me?" I pushed my hair back casually, letting Matt see the ear piece in there. He briefly looked over at it and nodded, probably assuming I was bugged too. I wasn't bugged, but L had a way with computers too, not as proficient as Matt, but knowing the paranoid genius the raven haired man was listening in from the computers.

"Dunno, I'm not bugged though, can't promise the same from the computers around here though. Was only told not to tell everything, so I'll keep it vague and let you connect the dots. I assume you've been keeping up with the case?" I pointed to his computer and he followed my gesture again and nodded as he continued with his game, he shrugged and smirked as he destroyed an enemy with a simply swing of the wii-mote. I kept my eye on the white controller, ready to duck or ninja jump, then I'd probably tip right afterwards, in case the gamer got excited and started swinging madly.

"We've been trying too, everyone is. To be honest Eb, I think almost everyone wants to see you fail. Though, from what is released it's hard to tell what you and L are doing. I mean, sure Mel, Near and I can tell to a point what you are thinking of the situations presented, like how the second Kira used the word 'Shinigami' probably sparked your interests. You're unpredictable from that moment onward," Matt explained causally, frowning at the game as the remote in his hands was no doubt dying, a slight delay apparent on the screen. Curving my index finger in thought I brought it to my lips and continued absently watching the controller.

"You're right, I am interesting in what 'Shinigami' means, I lost a good apple over it," I paused and pouted, there will never be an apple like that one, everyone is different in its own way and this applies to apples too. "Though, we've been more focused on the voice behind the video, found some hair on the envelopes that were sent into Sakura TV. There has also been another reference to these 'Gods of Death' and I'm thinking about expanding on this on my visit while everyone and their dead mom is asleep." I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them, tuning my attention to the screen. "Though, at this point I'm getting anxious, I want to say this case is almost over. Regardless if I go and theorize on my own we might get the answer with or without my input."

"Something's going to happen, you can feel it in your gut can't you?" Matt said putting my thoughts into words, I hate it when he does that. To me that's creepier than me being able to dissect someone's personality just by looking them in the eyes. Personally, I don't find my eyes reading creepy, the eyes are gateways to the soul. In my opinion, if someone didn't want me looking into their soul they should wear goggles. Matt seemed to catch that message, hence how he normally kept his goggles on his eyes when I was in an observational mood.

"Ebony," I jumped slightly at L's urgent voice blaring in my ear. I lifted my head, my hair covering my left eye, Matt paused the game and looked at me curiously as I stared at his wall. I didn't respond, only listened. "I need you to look at Light, he's showing signs of following in Misa Amane's example, he's having a breakdown." I looked at my watch, he should be tied to the bed. Either way, this was bad, and even though it was the worst possible thing that could happen at this moment other than people dying, I couldn't let Matt know this. Sure he knew something bad was going to happen, he didn't need to know just how disastrous this was. I didn't want him to worry, and besides what had just happened was expected.

"I have to go, duty calls. In other words the bad feeling has been confirmed," My voice was low, thoughtful but there were hints of frustration as I hugged Matt once more and left the room. I hooked my thumbs in my jeans and walked past my room, toward the kitchen first, grabbing a peach, banana, some plums, grapes, and apple before unlocking my door with my hidden bobby pin, leaving my door slightly ajar as I hit the wall-like I was a herd of elephants-knowing Mello was in his room.

I sat down and put the fruit on my desk, taking a bite out of the peach. My hands seemed to take over as I opened the laptops and effortlessly hooked up communication with L and Task Force and the surveillance back toward the holding chambers. My mind was off on in its own train of thought, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why this was happening. Though Misa didn't freak out, she the overall mood from the tone of voice she used was confused and slightly frantic, especially when she asked to use the bathroom. I saw this coming with Light's situation-as I keep saying over and over- and if I wanted to play dirty I could have. Most of the pieces were still on the board, doing so wouldn't be wise. At any rate, I wasn't pulling the strings-I wasn't the king-I was a puppet-a mere pawn- at this point.

"What the hell was that for? Rubbing it in that you're a better ass hat than me?" Mello growled slamming my door open as I plugged in my microphone into the side jack of my laptop, the one I was using for communication. I didn't react, simply messed with the settings and turned toward L's laptop, the surveillance still loading. Grinding my teeth as a pair of hands knocked me off of my chair-at this point I was crouching on the chair-my head hit the wall. "Answer me dammit!" Mello was yelling, and my door was open. This just confirmed my thoughts, he was too mad to take in the situation, analyze the details.

"If you can be quiet, both during communication and to everyone else I'll let you stay," I said my voice dropping in a monotone as I pushed myself off of the floor and closed the door. Mello froze for a second as I sat back down and leaned forward, my elbows on the desk as Mello leaned over next to me, his eyes glued onto the "L" insignia on my right. Told you he didn't look for the details, the black letter on a white background kinda stands out.

Hooking the microphone around my ear I turned toward the laptop on my left, I didn't know if the blonde has learned Japanese in the past few months but that wasn't my concern at this point. Reaching toward the other on the left laptop I turned the device on and scratched my nose. "Get him out of the restraints now, and give him a moment to calm down, a hysterical person isn't going to be much help," I ordered in Japanese I turned my chair slightly in thought as my teeth scrapped against the seed. I turned the fruit over in my hand as I opened my-L's-documents. Details details, sure it's _his_ computer but it's in _my_ procession, that technically makes them _our_ documents right? "The surveillance is saved onto my computer, right?"

"They are," responded L in the same language. I nodded to myself as I found the most recent save and opened it. According to this, the video was saved every thirty minutes and this one was created about ten minutes ago. "Light's behavior changed approximately ten minutes ago." Nodding more to myself than to anyone else, I fast forward the video to the last ten minutes and sat back, bringing my knees to my chest and pushed my butt off of the chair so I sat like the detective, numbly eating the random fruit that surrounded me.

Light was laying on the bed, the steady drip of water falling on his forehead, much like yesterday. He was mumbling to himself, all was heard from the external speakers was just his voice, no words could be taken from his speech. What I could tell that it was cynical, yet monotone, the muscles from what I could tell from the small screen, around his mouth was pulled tight, like he was fighting a smile. I paused the video and opened an audio editor and found some earbuds, plugging them in as I messed with the settings so I could hear what was actually being said. Light was going on about how bad he must be looking in his predicament. He turned his head so that one eye was facing the camera. His eye was narrowed, a small highlight seen in the video as a ghost smirk spread across his face. "I suppose I should get rid of it," he said clear as day, in Japanese. About ten seconds pass and his cold calculating eye widened, his breath caught.

Pausing the video at that moment I read his eyes again, my eyes widened as my lips slightly parted in shock. I leaned back, it was gone. I couldn't believe it, in ten measly seconds, it was gone. The dark shadow, heavily guarded secret just vanished. "Ebony, are you there?" L asked I blinked a few times and played that precious ten seconds, zooming in on the picture. This was infuriating, I mean I fully believed it had happened, I just hated that I was right. If I was going to be wrong about something I was hoping this was going to the that time.

"Yeah, I'm here give me a second, I'm analyzing the last five minutes of Light's confinement, he didn't snap. I'm 87% positive on that. No, something else happened." I changed the video window back to normal and pressed play, leaning back again and brought the seed of the peach to my lips scowling at the bear fruit. I threw the seed over my shoulder as Light started pulling at the restraints. Though is eyes were closed, if he were acting there would be some restraint. The kid (yes I know he's older than me deal with it) has a head on his shoulders, if he was acting he'd be concerned about dislocating his shoulder. Here, he didn't hold back, he truly felt trapped, the torture was working.

"_Ryuzaki, Ebony, I know being confined was my idea, but I just realized something important. This whole thing is completely pointless, because I'm not Kira. You have to get me out of here!"_ I shook my head and closed the window after that, I didn't need to hear anymore, gone. His memory was gone, he was Kira. _Was_ Kira, not anymore. That keyword made all of the difference, but we still couldn't arrest him, all we had as proof was the word of two very intelligent detectives, though I was one "in training." We had no physical proof.

"Same case as Misa, that dark shadow in his eyes I keep going one about is gone. We weren't wrong, as far as I'm concerned Light was Kira, I emphasize the word was, as in not anymore. Kudos Light Yagami, you have me stumped, however. If I'm right the killings might start up again soon, I am not positive though." I ran a hand through my hair and snuck a look at Mello, he was still staring at the "L." There was nothing in his expression that showed he understood from the Japanese conversation.

"What will we do then?" I heard asked by Matsuda. I leaned back in my chair and put my feet on the table as I peeled the banana I took a bite out of it and tilted my head to the side. For once, Matsuda had a point, our suspect was clueless and we had no proof toward the crimes L and I were positive of his guilt on. I couldn't really answer his question.

"That's a good question, either this case will go cold, or the killings will start again but with a third party. If that happens, all of our attention goes there until we catch that person. Whether or not Light and Misa get out of jail, is something I can't predict at this moment," I said inspecting the yellow peel of the banana.

"Yes, I agree and if the killings continue we should expect this Third Kira to be less intelligent to the original, Kira might want us to catch this third Kira and call the case as closed, however knowing myself and what I know about Ebony, the two of us won't stop until the original Kira is brought to justice," said L. I voiced my agreement. "If that's all-"

"Wait!" I perked up at Aizawa's voice sounding urgent. My stomach sunk to my knees, sweat beading on my brow, this wasn't going to be good. Afro-man never was one to just let things be as they were. Apparently, this was going to be any different. "Ebony you're out of Japan at the moment, Ryuzaki told us this much. Would you mind telling us what's going on?" I let out the breath I was holding, I knew the man didn't trust me that much, or at all for that matter, he did value me as an investigator, nothing more, nothing less.

"Lemme put it this way afro-man you go home every night, most nights, to your family I stay with L, and I have friends back here. It's been about six months since I've seen them. Needless to say I miss my three closest friends, everyone else pretty much only uses me for entertainment. So, this is me coming home at night." I listened to the silence, no one said anything, Mello's eyes burning a hole into my shoulder, his expression showing that he was confused. My tone of voice was somber, so this considered his confusion was justifiable, it meant he didn't understand a word I was saying. Perfect. "So, I'll talk to you guys later." I logged off of the chat and closed the laptops, Mello taking a seat on my unused bed. He hung his head, running a hand through his hair.

I spun around in my chair, 65% said L knew he was there, but he didn't say anything yet. Then again, he was probably going to ask when the blonde wasn't present, but at the same time I had the ear piece for a reason. Then again, why didn't he just ask in one of the other languages I knew he knew that I knew? Following me? I looked at Mello as he lifted his head. He opened his mouth to say something but I shook my head, cutting him off.

"Let me explain one thing alright?" I started in English again, oh how I love my mother tongue. "Being first was the last thing on my 'to-do' list. It's not my fault mysterious deaths interest me. I'm actually trying in this case because if I don't people are going to die Mello. I can't let that happen. I don't want to be L, never in a million years, too serious, too many expectations. I will work with you and Near when you two succeed him, the two of you surpass him, but only if you work together, but I will not be the sole person to be L, even if I am up to par with the detective," I said clenching my fists and turning away from the blonde. Knowing Mello, he was probably shocked, I mean I just confessed my motives without being interrogated even though I knew it was coming. I'm typically very stubborn and childish, though I don't think it was necessary to point that out.

I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and listened as their breath shook as if simulating laughing. Now, normally I'd ask what was so funny, and he's respond with "your face" or something along those lines. But, this wasn't the case this time, no he was laughing because like most times I was being funny unintentionally. I looked up and met the blonde in front of me and smiled. "Ebony, you just defied L to let me see what's been happening. I have to ask, was that man we were watching…who was that?" Thoughtfulness came over his gaze, he knew that I considered this man to be Kira, I mean Japanese aside I didn't exactly avoid the name and I was sure I subconsciously gestured toward the computer more than once as I said the name.

"You see, that's where I'm drawing the line. If I told you and if L ends up dying and I miraculously survive-like a boss, both you and I will be focused on proving one man's guilt, we'd get nowhere. I don't see this happening anytime soon, but it's just a precaution I want to be in place." I shook my head as I finished my banana, throwing the peel away and picking up my apple as a knock was heard at my door. "I'm coming!" I sang as I stood up from my chair and danced to the door.

I opened the door and smiled happily at the visitor, the sounds of guns shooting filled the air as I looked up, at the red head and smiled. This guy has impeccable timing I swear. He returned my grin and actually paused his game as he pulled me into another hug. I hugged him back and gestured for him to enter my room. He walked in and looked at Mello questioningly as I crouched on my chair, looking at him and realizing how bad this looked. My eyes widened as I went tomato red. Matt and Mello raised an eyebrow as I raised my hands palms out and shook my head furiously.

"It's not like that!" I said defensively. "L called, and I figured it was the quickest way to get him over being mad at me. You know I hate it when Mello isn't well, mellow, unless I'm the cause of it." Matt looked at Mello and nodded as if to confirm my story. Then they both stared at me, the kind of stare that people give when they are questioning the sanity of the person they're looking at.

"Uh, Ebs, I hope you don't mind me asking but- uh-"

"Why the hell are you sitting weirdly, it's weirder than now Near sits, fucking sheep," Mello finished grumbling as he pulled out a chocolate bar and snapped a piece off dramatically as said albino stood in my doorway, knocking lightly. I frowned at the blonde as I invited Near in, and gestured for him to close the door. He obliged and tossed me a mango as he produced a rubix cube from his pocket. I squealed in excitement as I bit into the fruit and smiled as I chewed.

"To answer your question, I've picked up on a few of L's mannerisms, he's an oddball like the rest of us. Details are going to be up to you guys to find, simply because he doesn't want people to know what he looks like. Even I was wrong on his appearance and we all so how abstract my ideas are. So, what's happened since I left?" I asked to no one in particular, half of my mind wondering to the new developments in the case as I pulled at the corner of my desk and found a blank piece of paper, in a decent unwrinkled condition. I picked up a text book and started drawing. My pencil making precise light lines as I swallowed the bite I had been talking through the entire time.

"Class has been more organized, distractions has been decreased to a minimum, you accounted for about 78% of all distractions to begin with so the decrease is expected," said Near twirling his hair for a moment and then went back to sorting out the blocks on his cube. "There have been people trying to take your place as someone who plays pranks on the teacher and Roger, none have been successful." So the queen of pranks and her legend survives after six months of her absence, I truly am a genius.

"Yeah Ebs, everyone misses your pranks, are you planning on pulling one?" Matt asked, nose buried in his PSP as an excited smile complimented the tone used as he has spoken. I smiled and looked up from my notebook into the goggled eyes of Matt. I shrugged and pulled out a notebook plainly labeled "Not a prank plan book" and tossed it to the gamer, Mello scooting closer to his friend as the game was paused, and tossed aside.

"I dunno, I haven't looked at that in six months, as if it makes a difference. I do have one prank I think everyone will enjoy. Give it to Near, when you're done." I frowned as the picture wasn't coming out right. I flipped my pencil over and erased the left side of the drawing, starting over, folding the paper in half so I wasn't tempted to make the drawings to match. Again, this didn't make a difference to my mind, I still saw the big picture, but somehow physically not seeing the entire sha-bang made all the difference.

"I like this one, seems a little mean for you Ebony," said Mello smiling pointing to the spiral, causing me to look up as Matt held up the notebook. It was "Operation Big Boom" it was simple, strap fireworks on Roger's chair and once he sits down activate the explosives, sad thing was the chances of death were too high, to I changed it to when he walked in. I smiled started running my pencil against the page again.

"That's why I'm not doing that one. I was bored and Roger was making me mad, so ta-da!" I started darkening the pencil drawing on the left side, trying my best to show the dark nature of the small subject I was capturing. This subject was getting to be more of a hassle than a detective case, too many secrets, too many lies. Like I've said, secrets I don't have an issue with we all have them and I realize that, it's Mr. I'm-gonna-lie-because-I'm-a-total-D-bag. "Then again I might change the fireworks with cans of whipped cream, that way nobody dies, and we won't have a gaping hole in the orphanage."

"This one looks fun," said Matt, I looked up again, it was the silly string prank. The set-up was complex Rube Goldberg machine that ended with two cans of the stuff shooting out and covering him. His bathroom door was also going to be locked so he'd have to go out to find a "public" bathroom, where a camera held by me would take a picture and run off to copy it. There was also going to be a camera in the air vent so that I could watch it over and over again. I smiled as I continued on my drawing, not noticing Near handing me his solved cube.

"Ebony, would you please scramble the cube? When you scramble the pieces it takes me longer to solve." I smiled and set the spiral upside down as I kicked my feet out from under me and started twisting the sections of the cube randomly. I held it up at the light and frowned, not mixed up enough. I moved the row of squares again and again, smirking as I re-solved it in my head. It had L's insignia on one side, Watari's one another, an "N" on one side, and "E" on another, not the Backadder one I was using as my symbol. The other two sides were M's.

"Really Ebony? Is mixing up a cube that important, just two seconds ago you were so engrossed at that drawing, what the hell are you drawing anyways?" Mello said half snapping standing up to snatch the page. I frowned at him and turned a row right in front of him as to say that this mission was important to me. One of my feet was pressed against his chest, keeping him from my drawing as I slightly narrowed my eyes in a challenge. I handed Near the cube and went back to my drawing.

"You'll see, I need to see two pictures at the same time, and instead of using my laptops, mostly because I'm almost positive there isn't any video or pictorial record of what I'm currently drawing, I'm simply going to draw it and what I'm comparing it with, isolating the exact object I'm focused on studying," I mumbled as I looked at the penciled drawing, satisfied with it and flipped it over and drew the comparison. Mello growled and sat back on my bed as Matt handed him another chocolate bar.

About ten minutes pass in silence, Matt started playing on his PSP and Mello picked up a book from my dusty bookshelf. Near was still working on that cube. I unfolded the page and smiled my mission was accomplished as I lightly outlined the rest of the face that went with the two completely different, but completely the same eyes. I didn't notice that I was moved, into the center of the room and Matt was looking at the page curiously, Mello beside him and Near to my right.

I looked at them each in question, and waited, If they saw what I was hoping they would see then L would definitely see it. Matt turned his head to the side and took off his goggles, pushing them to rest on the top of his head. I looked into his eyes and smiled to myself, causing him to look at me and return the gaze as Near gently tapped my shoulder.

"No offence Ebony, but the eyes don't match," he said as Mello furrowed his brow no doubt recognizing the face. I handed the blonde the spiral as I told Near that I knew, it was the way I had drawn it. "I see." The small kid trailed off thinking.

"One's darker, evil even. The other is innocent, light scared," Mello said. I bit my tongue to prevent myself at laughing at the fact that I had drawn Light in my picture. He got it spot on, and subtly I proved that those two-though the blonde hated the living guts out of the white toned kid-they were really good at working together. Near noticed the change, Mello described it. I tapped my nose with a smile as I ripped out the page and put it under the lid of one of my laptops. I stood up and looked at the window and smirked, dinner time.

* * *

**So school has started…it's to be expected. Anyways, I'm really happy and it's not because my schedule says I have AP-Psycho (psychology). It's the length of this chapter, easily my longest chapter ever! 6,675 words, and getting into the details I use Calibri size 11 to write and this is 10 and a half pages of Ebony awesomeness! My normal chapters are 8 and a half to 9 pages with the same font. I felt like sharing :D**

**Anyways, as always I thank you guys for favoriteing, alerting, reviewing and reading. It makes the accomplishment of writing 6,675 words worth it. In other random story news, on the rough draft I'm on chapter 40, page 309-ish and about 5,000 words shy of reaching 200,000. Yeah, this is going to be long, just so you know. **

**To Kashgal and Nature's Ruler:**

_**Ebony: **__…Given your name wouldn't your acronym be SSOD or SSD? Just saying. _

_**Matt:**__ Ebony shut-up whenever people have "of the Dark" in their name they can normally make you "disappear" remember the DarkBrotherhood?_

_**Pie:**__That's my favorite quest line in Skyrim :D_

_**Ebony:**__ …I don't know whether I should be scared or proud…_

_**Pie:**__ Don't worry I don't use my…experiences for your story :3_

_**Matt:**__ I think we should be scared regardless, and remind me to keep sharp objects from the both of you._

_**Ebony: **__ Aww Come-on Matt you know I don't remember things I hear._

_**Pie:**__ Yeah I'm not that good at memory either, ask me to play last years marching show you'll get maybe 5 notes…It was an 8 minute show._

_**Matt:**__….seeing how I'm the only serious one here at the moment what's the err SSOD-like the details?_

_**Ebony:**__ Kill-joy._

**To: Prince of Oriel: **_Yeah, I get the other definition now (^.^') at the same time I'd like to point out Ebony is from LA, and gangs run rampant there (so the stereotype goes) so her using the term in the definition of a random gang attack ending in a death or humiliation makes more sense in her context, thanks for pointing it out though. I would've never caught it if you hadn't._

_Buahahaha! I am good at this game, it makes me happy. This is the first time I've tried doing this, giving secretive hints in my stories. Well I've done things to hide the plot, but not like a mini-game sort of thing. Am I making any sense? Lol. In my opinion though, my "loophole" is kinda lame, but it works for my sake. _

_COOOOKKIIEEE! *Nom* :3. Thank-you :D. _


	17. Chapter 17 Digging up Dirt

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any other copyrighted materials referenced. **

**I wanna thank Hidden Depths of the Mind for helping me out and being my Beta reader… Chibi-Pie that makes Big-Pie sit down and edit is satisfied, all worries of this chapter not being the best it could be has been calmed. **

**Chapter Seventeen Digging up Dirt**

"Book I condemn thee!" I shouted as I threw the psychology textbook against the wall over my bed, a nice bang echoing through my closet-I mean bedroom. I crossed my arms, I would've been fine if I had forgotten, it's been a few years since I've read the book. Memory, even mine, fades over time. The genius work I had gotten the original information failed me. "Why book, you're supposed to be full of information, not to mention giving my eyes a break from this computer screen. Oh would ya look at that, it's 4 in the morning. Mell isn't going to be a happy camper 'bout my book-hatred." I wheeled back to the desk as I sighed.

I bowed my head and ran my hands through my hair, turning toward the screen again, my head turned to the side. Blinking to adjust to the screen, an almost blank white document lit up the room. My eyes scanned the computer screen as I reread my recorded thoughts on Light and Misa before and during their confinement, trying to piece together similarities between the two and how this sudden lapse in memory happened. No head injury, no indication of mental disorders, everything checked out for these two on the surface. Rubbing my eyes in frustration I groaned loudly, I didn't want to work anymore!

"Ebony, I don't think condemning a text book is going to solve whatever issue you're encountering," I heard L say from the ear buds in my ear. Lowering my hands slowly, I revealed a glare that I knew good and well that L couldn't see. Realizing this, I stuck my tongue out at the screen in a childish manner, putting my thumbs on the side of my head and waved them.

"No duh Sherlock, and I don't want to hear how 'unrealistic' that book is, it's one of the few I've neglected to read and I intend to keep it that way," I responded, quite satisfied with my use of the Sherlock phrase. Mello's been using that on me for years, 'bout time I used against someone, even if I did have to edit it. Though, my choice in victim could've been better. I laid back and spun in my chair, trying to use what knowledge I had on the psychological characteristics of the human mind and what could attribute to sudden memory loss. Either way, I knew I was going to the library to confirm my thoughts. "I'll be right back, I need a change of venue, as much as I love looking at my count of successful pranks, they aren't helping."

Standing up, I decided to start getting my body used to a surplus in caffeine. As much as I love orange juice, apple juice, pineapple juice, and other fruit drinks, I had to part with them. Coffee was my now third most asked for in consideration of drinks. Becoming an insomniac wasn't easy, but coffee and sugar made it bearable. Actually, it just gave me an excuse to eat the unhealthiest things in the world, but I'm not complaining. I love Watari's pineapple upside down cake. I understood now why the detective could ski down a mountain made out of sugar; it was needed to simply live.

I was walking back to my room, when I remembered the library had psychology books. More books than I had collecting dust inside of my bedroom…yeah I should really dust in there. Eh, I had all week to catch up on chores. I had plenty of time. In my room, I grabbed a laptop, not really paying attention to which one, my ear buds, microphone, and balanced my bright yellow bowl of fruit on top of everything. I put it on my head and held my hands out in case it fell, which it did, and slowly walked out of my bedroom. Making sure I locked my door, I continued on my way toward the library, humming "Marukaite Chikyuu" from Hetalia under my breath.

Being the kid I was, I played with the lights in the darkened library, flicking them on and off like I was in a disco party, dancing to an unsaid beat, though it was still Hetalia. I stopped as I figured I was about to blow a fuse and sat at my claimed table, merely smirking to myself as I logged onto the computer I had brought with me. My eyes scanned the spines of the books around me, the air of the knowledge that the library gave was welcoming, bringing back memories.

_"__Mommy, read me this one," smaller me, around five years old, asked as I pulled the Dr. Seuss classic __Green Eggs and Ham __from the shelf and held the orange book out from my chest, smiling happily. I skipped through the small apartment bedroom and jumped onto my small bed, crawling over and snuggling against my mom's side. The woman smelled like cotton candy and flowers. It was a weird combination, but it was sweet, warm, it was my mom. _

_"__Alright sweetie, last one and then you're going to bed. This is the third one tonight," my mom said, gently pushing her golden blonde hair over her shoulder as she wrapped her arm around me and opened the book. "Though I don't know why you want this one, I know you have this memorized missy, because I do." She reached down and gently tapped my nose, causing me to giggle happily._

_"__I like the story though; can we have green eggs and ham sometime for dinner?" I asked my voice rising in pitch, hopeful for the answer to be yes as I looked up smiling. Her answer was the same as it was every time I asked for that story to be read, the typical "we'll see." This pleased me anyways, even if I did know it as a lie. Little did I know, in about a week and three days all chances of getting that meal was over._

Wiping tears from my eyes while shaking my head slightly, I took a drink from my thermos. I always preferred researching from books anyways. I played the part of the surveillance when Light lost his memory, it was sudden and unannounced. Sure I had my own thoughts on why this had happened, I am working with L for a reason, but I wanted to make sure I had my facts straight. Memory lapse was somewhat normal, I've seen it happen on multiple counts, however Light and Misa were different, it wasn't just a memory lapse, it was almost a complete personality chance and this is what made any of my theories questionable. Any idea I had, had to cover an explanation for this as well.

I stood up, shaking my head mentally. I came to the library to get out of my room, but also because this was the perfect location to find out what I needed to know to come up with a believable theory on Misa and Light's situation. My eyes skimmed the spins of the books, finding one on sudden memory loss, or memory loss in general. I picked two books off of the shelf and took a seat beside my laptop, turning the computer to face me. I opened the larger book of the two and looked through the table of contents. I flipped through the tomb, it seemed, and coughed at the dust flying off of the pages.

"Poor book, nobody reads you anymore," I whispered to myself and the book in my hand as I finished flipping and started skimming. The dust settled around me, and sneeze erupted from my chest. Shaking my head, I ran my finger lightly over the yellowed pages. Sure this book was older, but this combined with my memorized textbook will only confirm or disprove whether or not my theory was worth checking out. Personally, I thought this might've been a stroke, but I couldn't seem to definitively recall that being a cause for memory loss and/or a complete attitude change. This was a good way to prove this while getting away from the computer, it was too easy.

Back to my memory issue, alztimers, dementia, stroke, only one seemed to fit. My theory on strokes caused personality changes was confirmed, to some extent. Though the change between Misa and Light in the past week could be explained by this, my gut was screaming at me, telling me this wasn't the answer. Like when you screw up when playing Mass Effect 2, or Skyrim and if you're strictly trying to be the "good guy" and you end up taking a quest that screws everything to that "good guy" image up. Ok, maybe joining the Dark Brotherhood on Skyrim wasn't a good move for me, but come-on they kill people from the shadows how awesome is that? Wow, have I gotten off topic or what? Either way, Matt would be proud.

I turned to the other, smaller book and read something about short-term memory loss. Short term memory loss wasn't a consideration, if Light was Kira it would just be sudden memory loss. Six plus months of killing and he forgets it all, not likely in the slightest. What made it even more like a pile of crap was the fact both L and myself had the underlining suspicion that Light had this planned wasn't that reassuring. Still the question was, how?

I had to look at this like someone who could be the next L, and that person said that a stroke was the more probable cause. I wasn't sure on the percentage, it wasn't high, but I had to make sure I had every base covered that medically he was sound and that neither one of them needed to see a doctor. Though I was almost positive L might've considered this, possibly even had Watari check them out. This was less likely than the stroke; there would've been a jerk in the video of it being disconnected, or the old man himself seen on camera. Then again, L was wanting to see how I handled myself.

There was still one big hole in my stroke idea: both of them having a major stroke within a week, is astronomically unlikely. I'm not kidding; the chances of the Earth blowing up in three seconds, or everyone's dead mothers becoming zombies and miraculously not eat everyone's brains are about as possible as that. Hey, that second one even had the word "miraculously" in it, that's how unlikely it is. Zombies need food too, not my fault they prey on brains. Sounds like someone needs a zombie plan, Matt and I already have one planned out, worked on it for about a week after he played -I watch him play- Resident Evil when we were 10.

I picked up my microphone and connected to L to ask him the taxing questions, and explain one of the few stones I had to turn over. I was getting frustrated with this situation, might have to think about investigating a lose end we've neglected. "L, have you questioned Light since he started acting all wonky?" I asked taking another sip of coffee, my voice nonchalant like I dealt with "wonky" people on a regular basis. Does Mello count as wonky? I thought he did, I mean I'm shocked he didn't punch me earlier. Still, the week was young, our normal banter will continue eventually. For now, I'm working.

"No, as I told you, you're in charge of Light's interrogation. May I assume you have a lead?" I told him my thoughts, not even censoring the zombie scenario. He didn't comment on my outrageous analogy -he probably ignored it- if anything, he eye rolled at the screen. I couldn't be sure the only thing I was could see from him was his Old English Text MT "L." Saying I was going to interrogate them I started to disconnect the chat. "I understand, I'll be monitoring."

"I'd be surprised if you weren't, L," I confessed with a small smile as I turned the window back to the surveillance and watched Light for a moment, he was laying on his side, back toward the camera, I wasn't sure if he was awake or not. Tilting my head to the side in thought, I watched his chest. Breaths, they weren't fast, obviously he only could run two steps in that tiny cell. Besides, my past experiences taught me, running with your hands tied behind your back normally ends with face meeting ground, not fun. In short, he was awake. "Light? I know you might- no, I know you're not happy with me in the slightest, but will you answer some questions?"

"Depends on the question, if it's about Kira I won't be able to answer. I'm not Kira, Ebony you have to believe me," Light responded, his voice starting out harsh, quickly turning into a plea. Desperate, that's a word I'd give this situation. He was begging me to believe he wasn't Kira, I might be pulling the strings and he might've figured that out, but what makes him think I'm that easily persuaded? I closed my eyes and sighed. I could lie, and I could also ignore the question itself but Light was smart, he'd ask on his own again, I knew it.

"Light, were you disoriented, in anyway shape or form prior to your realization that your confinement was pointless?" I asked seriously, jumping slightly as the door was opened, a tower of books walking inside. I didn't have those lights on, how I managed to figure out how many books were in that stack was beyond me. There were 16 books of lengths varying from 150 to 430 pages. I narrowed my eyes at the books trying to figure out who was awake at five in the morning, other than myself. White, whoever was in here was wearing white. I took the microphone away from my face as a mop of snow white hair made an appearance. "Near?" I asked out loud after making sure the microphone was turned off.

"No, I don't believe I was confused. I was just thinking, trying to get my mind off of the dripping water, and I came to that conclusion," I heard Light say in his native tongue, causing me to jump slightly. Right, I was in the middle of something important. Man, I get easily distracted don't I? Maybe I should-wait Light, right, heh, that rhymed. I turned back toward the computer, my position half sitting, half standing. Torn between friend and information, I growled under my breath and sat back down.

"I see, no numbness in your face or body?" I continued asking my voice quiet as the light thump was heard as Near started to prowl through the dozens of bookshelves. I didn't know what went on in his head, nor did I know if he knew Japanese. I watched him, Light's interrogation could be reviewed, Near and his understanding, if he understood Japanese, would flash through his eyes, or he would show behavior that suggested he understood. The younger orphan briefly turned my way, curiosity muted in his eyes, understanding, not really. I sighed to myself lightly, I was safe, thank god.

"No, I've felt fine other than the effects of the Chinese Water Torture, Ebony why are you asking?" Light was looking at the camera now, his eyes were more animated than they have been ever since I knew them. They weren't guarded at all. I froze for a moment, the Light I knew wouldn't even be looking straight into the camera, no he'd be looking at the door. Just so his hair covered his eyes, so I couldn't get a read. This Light, the one who lived up to his name, wanted me to believe his innocence, and felt it was genuine.

"I have reason to believe that you and Misa are both experiencing sudden memory loss, and I'm just making sure it wasn't a stroke. Unless you have anything that you think can benefit the case I'll be on my way. I have more research to do." Light shook his head and I broke off the contact between me and Japan. Looking at Near I shrugged, leaving the laptop and put the two books back on the shelf, looking at the other books as if I was contemplating if they would be of any help. Tumors could cause memory loss, and they also can cause attitude chances. They couldn't to both at once, nor can they show up overnight, or at the command of a single phrase-like Light's situation appeared to be.

I closed my eyes and sighed, shaking my head. I was at a dead end, and there was no point in denying it anymore. I hung my head disappointedly, making my way toward the mythology section. Time to prove Matt right, this has been bugging me, I just got distracted, a lot. Shinigami…the second Kira, Misa mentioned them. Light reacted slightly to it, L more so than him. I'll admit, a part of me wanted to ask why L had jumped out of his chair when Kira-B said the word, but at the same time I assumed that asking him that was like asking me why I didn't sleep on the 13th of January. I wasn't sure why but I had to know the myth, then hopefully I could find the truth. The practical side of me said this was a stupid pursuit, but my gut wasn't screaming at me that I was wrong for thinking this, even if I was skeptical.

I pulled an encyclopedia from the shelf and looked up Shinigami, skimming through the pages and finding that the book wasn't really helping, it kept referencing the English Grim Reaper. Image upon image of the being flashed through my head, a shiver going down my spine, that would be horrible if that being was actually real. I've read a few things on godly beings of death. Hades, he kidnapped and raped Persephone who ended up becoming his wife anyways. Then there was Hel in Norse Mythology, who was portrayed as an ugly being. It was her name that we got the name "hell" but her realm was cold and damp. Either way, gods of death aren't pleasant beings.

I locked my jaw and put the book back on the shelf, taking a book specializing on the grim reaper and going back to sit down at my station still refusing to believe that Death Gods were the answer to the case, they were myths figments people have made up to explain death. Scientifically speaking death was explainable. Why it happened was up for the interpreter, but how it happened was clear after an autopsy, or simply paying attention. If a death god did exist, why would it be biased toward criminals, why not kill everyone they see? Wouldn't that make more since?

Gods, coming from someone who has read countless mythological books and has a photogenic memory, are portrayed as beings that act more human than the humans they watch over. However, they are powerful and because of this they are sometimes cruel, weighting wars with their influence. However, at the same time, killing criminals exclusively doesn't seem like anything a god would do, there is this thing called redemption, as well as the concept, and I mean no pun in this, "to have light you must have darkness."

I started skimming, shaking my head and tried to take a drink from my sadly empty thermos. I looked into the cup, and sighed. Curse it all, though if I had any more coffee when it came to breakfast I'd be bouncing off of the walls. Though, that might not be a bad thing, it'll make Mello's rant on how "condemning a book at 4 in the morning was totally stupid." Not my fault I didn't find the information I was looking for.

I felt my breath catch, my eyes widening as I dropped the book on the desk, the bang echoing through the library. My heart started pounding against my rib cage, a sweat breaking out slightly along my brow. My body started shaking as things clicked into place in my head. No, how? If that was the answer, how did Kira do it? I didn't understand I was hopelessly lost in the complexity of this case, it was too much to comprehend. Yet somehow, all of it made sense. It was impossible, surely death gods weren't real.

I didn't want to believe it to be true, however I had this as a possibility sure but I refused to believe it. This wasn't the answer I was hoping for, it seemed to simplistic, yet so abstract that it could be the truth. Nothing in this case has been straight forward yet, so why should this be any different? This theory was insane. I pulled my knees to my chest and shook my head. That one sentence, "If one were to come across the Grim Reaper, said person will most likely die of a heart attack." If that could be proven true, then we have another variable, another complication. I have seen plenty of inmates dying on camera, Lind L Tailor, and Ukita, never once have I seen a Shinigami. Yet, it made the most sense at this point.

"Ebony, are you alright? You appear to be paler than usual," Near's voice came filling my ears. I jumped and showed him the book. Running my hands through my hair I took a deep breath to keep from panicking more than I already was internally, my thoughts spinning. "I see, you're leaving no stone unturned, bringing mythology into the case. Though it was the Second Kira that started it, are you sure that this is a legitament lead? Are you sure that you're not frustrated at how the case is turning out?" I looked at the younger kid. Was I frustrated? I closed my eyes and shook my head. He was wrong on one fact anyways, Kira actually started it with the letters he was having criminals write. Near had no possible way of knowing this though, but I wasn't going to correct him.

"I'm not frustrated, I'm worried. It seems at this moment that there is a 50/50 chance this case will go cold unless something happens. I can't let that happen Near, I don't care that the only people who are dying are criminals, a life is a life. Who is to determine who lives and dies?" I paused for a moment before continuing. "Man is too corruptible; we hunger for power and lose all ties with our humanity. That's going to be Kira's down fall, I'm almost positive. Right now I'm looking for a weapon." The albino nodded and twirled his hair around his index finger, frowning slightly.

I looked in his eyes as covertly as I could, tilting my head to the side in slight confusion. Near was troubled, not to mention it was half past 5 in the morning, who else is awake at this hour. There was also no telling how long he has been asleep before waking to come here. I came to the conclusion that he was trying to beat me, I mean that's the typical response for someone who had taken one's spot at first. To be honest, I didn't know Near cared about being first. I knew he respected L, but to the point he wanted to be the detective was unknown. He wasn't as outspoken as Mello was on his intentions, so this made my theories merely guesses, no real proof to help my points.

"I see, Ebony I have to confess you've exceeded my expectation on how long you've maintained interest. I thought you would have returned permanently by now, you really are taking this seriously. This is slightly unexpected." I bowed my head and scratched my scalp, it has been a while, the longest I've been interested in something before now was probably a week, and then I'd get bored with it and move on. Though pranks were the exception, I would work on one for as long as it took to perfect it, but that normally wasn't long.

"Near, I know you appear to not really care, but you do. I'm sorry I took your spot as first. You know my views on me being L. Don't worry, once I return permanently I'll be same old lovable Ebony," I reassured with a smile. "Speaking of 'same old lovable Ebony,' I should really pull a prank while I'm here, be predictable at least one time." My pranks flew through my mind, all thoughts on the likelihood of the legitimacy of the Shinigami pushed to a side thought.

I had noticed a book hidden behind him, sure the kid studied, but never to the point to where it was all day everyday going to the library to get more study material so he had something to distract his failure, if you could call it that, from his goal of being L. I wasn't sure what he thought of me being first other than that, was he enjoying the competition? Seeing how Mello and his reactions were amusing though, mini Wammy explosion every time that loose cannon got second place.

The both of them, Mello and Near, were competing against something that was almost impossible to beat when it came to information: my photographic memory. This was a curse though, that is what Mel didn't really understand. He just looks at my memory as a computer, but all my bad memories resurfaced at random times, like tonight and remembering story time with my mom, then remembering how her bloody corpse looked that night. I despise my early memories. It wasn't this skill that gave me my edge though, it was how I used the information. How I used the plethora of words sentences and pictures that lived in my head and combined them in to a conclusion.

"I have to keep up with someone who knows everything she's ever read, or seen. Though that's only the half the puzzle, the rest of the puzzle is putting the information together into a conclusion." Man that kid just took my speech and simplified it into two sentences. I wish I could do that. Well, I could, but that takes effort and time that could be spent doing other things. We came to the same conclusion, I guess that's all that mattered. I reached over the table and ruffled the kid's hair, smiling at the kid and looked upwards toward the high ceiling as I ran a hand through my hair. He was still missing a few details, it was always a few missing details that make the difference though. That's why I have made sure I memorized the main events, the dead people not so much, but I had a timeline in my head, the most organized thing in there was that timeline.

"Near my metaphorical brother, you know me so well. Though I see a little worry in your face. I said it once and I'll say it again, I am still barely interested in becoming the next super sleuth, title's all yours buddy. Now since I'm back I have the ever bitter agony of choosing which epic prank I should use on Roger." I tapped my chin in thought as I started at the dark cover of the book I was just reading, my thoughts again going back to that sentence.

My hair felt warm against my cheek as the sun started rising, light spilling through the windows, it was about time for breakfast. The cool leather bound book was surprisingly heavy as I stood up to put it back, my limbs starting to feel heavy from exhaustion. Three hours since my last piece of fruit, that's inhumane. That was going to be the first issue to be solved this morning.

"Ebony, if you have time can we play a game of chess?" Near asked sitting on his knees looking over the back of the chair as I pushed the spine of the book back on the shelf. I turned my head as I pushed up onto my tip-toes, how in the world did I get this book down to begin with? My equilibrium lost it's balance and I fell back, the heavy 1000 page book falling on my head. How that author manages to fill up that many pages with information was beyond me.

"Sure thing Near, I was actually planning on it. I'll see you at breakfast alright?" I smiled at the white schemed kid, standing up and rubbing my throbbing head, curse these books! Why must knowledge be so painful? All I wanted to do is catch a killer. Since when is this a crime?

Eventually that book did get back in its snug little home in the bookshelf, take that! Ebony: 2; Book: 4. How did I lose to an inanimate object? This isn't right, it messes with the order. Man, I need some coffee before something crazy comes out of my mouth, like L's real name for instance. Yeah that would be really bad. The entire orphanage would know who L really is in five minutes flat.

The sun was warm through the holes in the canopy above my head, a summer breeze coming from the east if I wasn't mistaken. It was as if I had never left, well almost. There was the undeniable flutter in my stomach as I peeked over the book in my hands at the red-head who I was laying on.

Closing my eyes and inhaled deeply and smiled, lowering my book so that it laid on my stomach. It was quiet. The two of us were under one of the trees in the back yard of Wammy's his back was against the bark as he had his DS out mashing buttons, cussing under his breath every ten or so minutes, he was stuck, probably a boss battle. I was lying on his lap, just glad we had some alone time.

Studying his face, the very one I had drawn on my own multiple times as a face of friendship, I felt a slight blush take over my face. The way his hair fell over his goggles, the slight narrowing of his eyes as he slightly pulled his lips back in frustration, none of it had changed, but yet I found myself thinking that this made him freaking adorable, like a dancing panda drawing, ones with no real mouth, or better yet Sebastian from Kuroshitsuji dancing to Nyan-cat. I was in Japan and I've seen a little dubbed anime here in England, so of course I'd watch the un-subbed Japanese version in its mother country.

I jumped slightly as Matt slammed the gaming system shut, sighing in frustration as his hand dug into the light blue plastic, trying not to chuck it across the yard. I raised my eyebrows as he looked at me, almost immediately his expression softened. He smiled and chuckled to himself as if he just remembered an unsaid joke. Knowing what past we shared that was very high possibility, all the "accidental" explosions in the kitchen that may or may not have involved the chocolate of a certain blonde, or the gallons upon gallons of paint used in my various pranks. Man, I'm a comedic riot aren't I? This is where you picture my head inflating to the point where I all over, flailing my arms and legs in a sad attempt to get back onto my feet.

"What's so funny?" I asked giving up trying to figure out what the red head was thinking, though I was too busy imagining big-headed Ebony to really think. Matt pulled off his goggles, letting the orange devise hang around his neck as he smiled the wide smile that made one's eyes look like they're squinting. "Matt!" I yelled dragging the name out for a few seconds like I was a five year old kid when he didn't answer me.

"I'm sorry Eb, I was just thinking about how much I missed ya. You have no idea how dull it's been here," he said his eyes sparkling similar to the way that they were before he kissed me. Biting the inside of my lip I felt my cheeks heat up, curse my memory. That memory was actually welcomed, just not now while I was looking at him thinking about kissing him again. Did I just say that out loud? Oops… I tilted my head to the side, studying his eyes for a brief second. That light in his eyes made my heart beat at a slightly heavier, faster rate.

"Hey Matt, that night before I left, you meant what you said didn't you? Ya know, with the…uh...yeah...that." I asked rhetorically pausing as his eyes took on a curious note, unsure where I was going with what I was saying. "Mello knew too, I guess I owe him one." I sat up, sifted around and laid against the tree next to the gamer as he asked why. "Because, without him you wouldn't have kissed me and I wouldn't have realized just how much I liked you, too." I started to bring my knees to my chest, heat rising to my cheeks felt warmer all of a sudden. Matt's gloved hand rested on mine, impulsively making me freeze.

"You mean that? I mean I know you kissed me back, so don't even think of throwing that sarcastic remark in there, but you like me?" I smiled and looked up towards the canopy of the tree. I took a deep breath. A small smile spread across my cheeks as I came up with the perfect way to express my thoughts without saying what I was thinking.

"Does Link always save Zelda? Does Zidane love Princess Garnet? Does Pac-man love eating those little dots?" We both chuckled at the last one, as Matt turned so that he was looking at me, his dark blue eyes looking lighter in the sunlight. I felt a light gentle hand grasp mine, the light brushing of his thumb on the back of my hand making me shiver slightly.

I started to turn my head away, Matt catching my attention once again by letting go of my hand and pushing my hair back, revealing the blush I was trying to hide. I rubbed my arm and let an embarrassed smile take over my features. The grass was a deep green under the canopy of the trees, not that it mattered, I really was just paying attention to it in order to distract myself from Matt, trying not to look at him in all my tomato-face glory.

I felt myself looking at him. Another gentle hand guided my face up and toward the person that was sitting in front of me. I had to admit, if Matt had anything that was more outstanding than Mello, it was his confidence, he was sure in what he was doing, like right now. No hesitation, then again, we've been friends for a while he could pretty much guess what I was thinking.

"Yes Link will always save Zelda, Zidane loves Garnet more than the stars in the sky, and those dots will always have a special spot in Pacman's mouth," Matt responded softly as he lightly brushed his lips against mine. A small smile spread across my face as I kissed him lightly on the nose, happy that I had made him join the tomato face club before his lips met mine.

"Hey, want to help me with a prank?" I asked mischievously, still wrapped in Matt's arms after our kiss. The birds made their appearance, singing their songs, enjoying the world and all it had to offer. Matt raised an eyebrow at me as I pointed up at a wooden box hidden in the tree. "That's where I hide everything, shh, it's a secret." I put my finger on my lips and smiled. Matt chuckled and shook his head, commenting on how he was shocked he hadn't guessed it himself.

**So I think I have a schedule I'm happy with on the updating, thing. I update one story a week, meaning that here will be every other week-unless I have a super busy weekend and I can't edit. But all-in-all this is a lot less guilt on Pie's conscience. Yes, I feel bad when I don't update often. **

**That's about all I have to say, other than reiterating that you guys should maybe thank Hidden Depths of the Mind, it helps my writer's OCD, like it's worse that every one of Light's tiny hairs needs to be in the right spot, I was a little twichy after letting the past few chapters out because I didn't have time to satisfy my inner editor yelling at me in a high-squeaky-annoying voice…alright I'm rambling...I'll stop.**

**Thanks for Reading, Favoriteing, Alerting, and Reviewing.**

_**To Kashgal and Natures Ruler:**_

_**Ebony:**__ *scratches head* Now, this may be crazy Ebony talking, I can't really tell sometimes, but we work under L, and L is like more mysterious than the US government, that guy is only known by a letter A LETTER. So, with that said I think we can be trusted to know the secrets of the SSOD. *puts on pleasant smile* If you refuse to tell us Matt and I can go back to our funny practice of hacking into the FBI database and changing a random word, like "and" and changing it to "poop" or something…and we'd also get any info on the SSOD._

_**Pie:**__ You have to be difficult don't you. Then again, you hate being predictable so I guess this should've been a possibility that at least I the All Mighty Creator of Ebony should've seen. Man, am I a failure. *sulks*_

_**Ebony:**__ Ahh, don't feel too bad! I mean you admit I'm smarter than you are…How much research have you done on this chapter alone? I know you had to look up reasons for memory loss, and that's how you got stroke….then you had to look up Grimmy. Man, I'm not helping am I?_

_**Pie:**__ No…no you're not.*Looks around* Hey…has anyone seen Matt? _

_**Matt:**__ *shows up with plane* LET'S GO! MATT WANNA PLAY GAMES! Ebony, you drive. *Throws Keys*_

_**Pie:**__….alright let's go!_

_**To: Prince of Oriel: **__Congratulations on the achievement of College. I am a mere Junior in High School. What quote did you say, I wanna know…maybe I'll add it to the story. I liked writing Ryuk, one of my favorite characters right there. Though to be honest for the majority of the series I was neither "Team L" or "Team Kira" I mean I wanted Light to die, and I was numb after L died, also on the whole "After episode 25 it sucked" boat. But all in all, I like L slightly more, like 5% more than Light. Totally not like Ebony and her uncensored hatred. _

_Wow, I got off topic XD. Yes prankage shall ensue! Poor Roger, I loved this mini-arc I added. It's only three chapters but I was writing and I was like "It needs more Mello, Matt and Near…Let's send her home :D" Yeah, my brain actually works that way. _


	18. Chapter 18 Getting all Philosophical

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or anything else referanced *waves white flag* **

**Chapter Eighteen Getting all Philosophical up in Here **

I gasped for air as I hugged my sides, throwing myself back onto the beanbag I was sitting on. A river of tears was streaming down my face. Matt was laying next to me in a similar position; Roger and silly string wasn't a good combination. Well, in terms of comedic gold, it was just freaking hilarious! No impurities, the only thing was missing was glitter. Words can hardly describe the scene and still do it justice. The old man turned almost as pink as the silly string that was on his balding head for Pete's sake. The best part was, I got the entire thing on video! The magic of cameras and air vents, I'm a genius I tell you!

The prank was one of my more complicated. Actually, I would be as daring as to call this the holy grail of my pranks. Monty Python style, now that's a funny movie. "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!" Anyway, back to the awesomeness of my prank. I was especially proud of this, not only did it work without being tested, but it worked better than I had planned. That rarely happens, my expectations of the excitement of my plan are normally overestimated.

Now the fact it worked on the first run was miraculous, because not only did I have Matt working with me -not that I didn't like his help it just added another variable that resulted in a margin of human error- but I was working on a Rube Goldberg. Those things are easy to plan out on paper, but when actually putting all those pieces together and it working there is about a 2% chance –at best- of it working when running it the first time. Not to mention we were on a time crunch, a fight can only distract Roger for so long. You'd think he'd see through the ruse, I use the same one every time I pull a prank.

My contraption wasn't simple either; there were a lot of pieces in a small space. The door opened, which made a pencil that was hot-glued to the top right hand corner of the door made dominoes fall on shelves that were already there. Matt and I just added connecting ramps so the last domino on the shelf knocked on a block that pushed forward another pencil that started the next one. After it reaches the floor, books arranged to look like a box without a top fell away from the middle, releasing more marbles, like thousands of marbles, that spread across the floor. Those tiny marbles then gathered together, thanks to the slope of the room, and a loose rope grew tight because of the weight in cup tied on the end. Another domino effect happened, this time with books. It spit off about half way, getting ready for the finale. A bowling ball was released at the end that turned Roger's chair to face the door, and the other track knocked over a dictionary that fell onto a block of wood that sprayed Silly String –two cans, mind you- onto Roger.

"Did you see his face?" I asked, rolling onto my stomach looking down at Matt. We weren't punished, no we ran for our lives, we were hiding the entire time. Never hide in the air vents with another person. Trust me, it doesn't end well. Sure, I said that all I needed was an hour, but I overestimate myself sometimes. This wasn't going to be the first time. One time I was going to pull a prank similar to this, with a confetti cannon and Roger walked in while I was aiming the thing. So, in a panic I just fired it. There is still a dent in the wall from that to this day, as well as the foundation issue. Though I didn't cause that, maybe I should tell Watari about the settled orphanage.

"Yes! It was so fucking hilarious! Here let's watch the video again," Matt said, pulling me up as he pressed play, the two of us watching the screen not blinking. The room erupted in laughter again as the eyes of Roger widened and then squeezed shut as the pink and blue string covered his very expensive suit. We then, eventually, calmed down. No, that wasn't why we were crying and holding our stomachs while we replayed it for the tenth time. Matt pressed a few keys and then the spray shot out of the cans in slow motion. Once again laughter erupted from the walls of the bedroom as the two of us laid back again. "One of your best Eb, and that's an accomplishment." I cheered my agreement as Matt's bedroom door slammed open.

Matt and I turned to look at the figure standing in the doorway, one hand keeping the door pressed against the wall. His breathing was slightly labored, probably from running over here. Blonde hair almost covered his eyes as a flash of icy-blue orbs dug into mine. Blinking, I came to the conclusion that he was mad, reasons could really be anything at this point. Maybe Mello was still PMS'ing, but when isn't he? Sitting up I blinked once, twice. Today was Wednesday, the latest test results had just been posted. Wait, that means he's here to rant. Man, I was hoping I was going to escape that.

"How the hell are you doing it?" came his demand. He marched in as I tried to figure out how in the world I was going to respond to him. Well, I could wing it like I always did, but Mello normally gets madder at my brutally honest comments. "Beating that damn sheep for six fucking months, why now?" I blinked and tilted my head to the side. It's about to get philosophical up in Matt's room. Well, as philosophical as I can get after watching Roger getting sprayed with silly string in slow-motion for an hour.

"Because if I don't actually try and use every ounce of my smarticles, people will just keep dying. Mel, I've seen people die right in front of my eyes, I don't need movie memory to remember that. If I'm right about Kira, he won't stop until all evil is cleansed from the world. That is impossible though," I stated in monotone, avoiding Mello's gaze. Knowing Mello though, anything I did was going to be taken as a challenge. It was pointless to act like this wasn't going to end up with one of us either storming out of here in a rage, or us just refusing to talk to each other. There's no place like home. "People are all 'evil' to some extent thought, no one person is completely good, not even L." I had turned toward Mello as his eyes widened at the memory of when L called Wammy's about three years ago.

_Everyone was gathered into the room, many of the younger kids were crowding each other while they tried to get within the frame of the webcam, even when Matt said that it could capture the entire room easily. Some people just don't listen do they? A white laptop was at the front of the room with Roger, L's insignia displayed proudly._

_Mello was along the wall, casually eating chocolate, looking disinterested. His serious expression told a different story as his normally angered snaps of the sweet candy weren't as harsh. One leg rested against the wall, a hand hooked into his pockets as L made a joke about his handwriting. If he thought his handwriting was bad, then we had a problem. This didn't really amuse the blonde though, but he looked content. This made me curious, and as someone who really wasn't aiming to be L, I was easily distracted at this point. That blonde had a secret._

_"__Could you tell me something you're not good at…or something you're scared of?" asked Linda, a girl about a year younger than us asked. Mello, Near, and I turned toward the monitor, Matt leaned even more forward than he already was. Many people argued that L wasn't scared of anything, but the detective disagreed._

_"__Well, I suppose monsters," said the laptop. I turned my head to the side, there was more to it, and I doubt the Boogeyman is the monster L had in mind. Though, in my opinion zombies were ten times scarier. "There are many types of monsters that scare me: Monsters who cause trouble without showing themselves, monsters who abduct children, monsters who devour dreams, monsters who suck blood... and then, monsters who tell nothing but lies. Lying monsters are a real nuisance: They are much more cunning than others. They pose as humans even though they have no understanding of the human heart; they eat even though they've never experienced hunger; they study even though they have no interest in academics; they seek friendship even though they do not know how to love. If I were to encounter such monsters, I would likely be eaten by them... because in truth, I am that monster."_

Mello's eyes hardened as he raised his fist, aiming for my jaw. I ducked under it, a breeze felt over my head, my heart racing as adrenaline flowed through my veins. Matt, who normally just sat these things out was watching intently. Normally I purposefully made Mello madder, this time it was my monotonic honesty that was making him mad; not often I take life seriously. I heard Mello snarl under his breath, as he turned toward my crouched figure, a flat expression on my face as my eyes dug into his. "He isn't a monster!" Mello yelled, clenching his fists tighter as I cautiously stood up.

"Mel, if you were talking to those who were close to the one suspected as Kira, would you be honest and tell the complete truth? Let me rephrase that –if you valued their cooperation and needed the suspect to screw up, lying would be the easiest thing to do. I've lied on this case, told the father of the Kira suspect that there might be the possibility that his son was being framed. I then lied to the suspect saying that I suspected I wasn't going to accomplish anything, but I have." Mello looked at me and scowled deeper at me.

"I liked you better when you acted like a dumbass," he said. My stomach dropped in anger briefly then relaxed as my head found the meaning behind his words. He implied he liked me. Grinning from ear-to-ear, I heard Matt chuckle as he put the pieces together as well. I put my hands on my hips as my battle stance narrowed into a casual one. My defensive, careful nature one was thrown out the window as it normally was. What came out of my mouth was completely on impulse.

"So you do like me," I started as I leaned forward and pointed to the blonde. Mello instinctively took a step back, his hand raised in case he had to strike. "Don't be mistaken though, I am not too happy about the 'dumbass' comment. You see, what I did here was complete genius, nobody expected me to go from last to first like that." I snapped my fingers and smiled. I then tilted my head so it looked like I was piecing together the secrets of the universe that were apparently written high on the wall, pushing up my invisible glasses. "Even you didn't expect it Mr. Princess Blondie."

Mello turned a pretty rosy shade of pink. Matt stood up and put a hand on Mello's shoulder shaking his head, "Come-on man chill. She knows you're mad because of the whole inferiority thing. Just let it go for once would ya?" I nodded agreeing with the red-head completely as I held out my arms in a "T" spinning on my toe. Mello relaxed visibly and rolled his shoulders back. I stopped dancing around the room and frowned slightly, this wasn't looking good for a certain someone, that someone being me.

"You're still childish. One of these days Ebony, you're going to have to grow up someday," the blonde said as he walked out, well it was more like stomping. I stood there looking at the door. For once I was at a loss of words. Bowing my head I looked at the floor, my left hand found the necklace around my neck, and held it securely in my hand. I knew I was childish, but that's because…well I've explained my past. I've relived it many, many times already. Let's not continue the tradition of me reliving a painful memory.

"Eb, you alright?" Matt asked, gently putting a hand on my shoulder. I lifted my head and looked up at the ceiling, my expression flat as I lost myself within thought. "You should know not to let Mel get to you by now. He just says whatever he knows will get under someone's skin, regardless of the consequences." Matt put a smile on his face as he tried to cheer me up. I turned toward him and smiled, the one that was normally combined with my eyes closing. Yes I came up with the best comeback that I could of used after Mello was long and gone. Anyone else hate when that happens, I know I'm not the only one.

"Don't worry Matt, I'm not the only childish one. L and Kira are also childish. Why should I change that, hmm? Besides it really fun not caring about being the mature person you're supposed to be by the time your 15. To be honest I was more disappointed that I couldn't make come up with a comeback before he left," I replied happily, the emotion almost forced. I spun on my heel and faced the door, announcing that I had a chess game to lose. Maybe I'm figure something out, chess is a good way to look at a case. That and the pieces are pretty to look at. It's the little things in life.

I was yawning as I exited the room, coffee time. Skipping toward the kitchen I started thinking about what I had found in regards to the Shinigami, trying to piece together a theory that could be reasonable. The thing was, everything I came up with was completely unbelievable. So I went and looked at what was left unanswered based on what the second Kira had revealed. Kira-B's "eyes" were still bugging me. How did those work? Didn't Mello know something about BB though? I mean, it wasn't as if after the interview with L the blonde came in announcing that L told him –him and only him- information about the case.

I sat on the marble kitchen counter and crossed my arms. Could the status of Kira be passed from person to person? I mean, that would make some sense, right? We were only dealing with one Kira for a long time, maybe Kira B suddenly showing up might've been a transfer. Possibly, the transfer was in progress. Then again, Light was shocked at what was being revealed by Kira-B. This either demonstrates the innocence of Light, but then why the sudden memory lapse, or it shows that the transfer-if there is one- is something the wielder is unaware of.

With that being said, maybe this Kira wasn't the first. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that Backup could've been a Kira at one point. Knowing him he probably wanted to save the familiar Kira pattern for later, as a finale. He also wanted L to know it was him doing all the killings, so it made since he didn't have to use the heart attack aspect. There was also a slight possibility that if one had "the eyes" they had to limit the times they could use the heart attack power, and B must've wanted to save it.

I jumped down and picked up an apple from the fridge, returning to my post and continued my confusing thoughts. As much as I hated it, I was going to have to talk to Mello about Backup. A speech-to-text program was going to be useful. I was going to need to remember this for a while at the huge setback of Light losing his memory or maybe the two geniuses were wrong and Light really wasn't Kira. Highly unlikely, and I didn't like it, but it was still a possibility. I hate having to take in the possibility that the first case I'm on I end up being wrong. I mean, what kind of debut is that? Yeah, there is also the whole perfect record of L, but that's secondary. Alright, L's record is slightly more important than my debut, have it your way.

Ebony," I jumped at the sound of my name and looked at the grey eyed kid. He was twirling his hair around his finger. I tilted my head in question and saw the toy robot in his other hand, he's been thinking. Like L and his favorite being cake, Near's favorite was robots, and favorites were used when deep thought was needed. "Would you mind delaying your contact with L, I would like to catch up over a game of chess." I smiled and nodded as the coffee machine's "done" light flashed at me. I poured me a cup and started loading it with sugar and cream to the point the liquid turned a nice chestnut color.

"Sure thing, Near, anything specific you want to talk about? I wasn't going to call him, I'm just tired. Setting up a Goldberg takes some energy." I took a drink of the streaming coffee and coughed as I forced the scolding hot liquid down my throat. "Holy cow pies that's hot!" I let my tongue hang out of my mouth as Near just glared at me like he was amazed at my intelligence level compared to what it was and how I portrayed it, though his expression didn't actually show any emotion whatsoever, the glare he was giving me said it all. I walked with the white-haired kid into the game room.

He sat down in the on the glossy hardwood floor very similar to L, only instead of both legs folded underneath him it was only one. The other leg was stretched out to his side as I walked into the room, smiling at the memories I've made here. I set my cup down on the ground and laid on the floor side-ways noticing that there was a new king in front of Near, the one we always played with still around my neck. I held the piece, remembering when he gave it to me. I smiled at the memory as my eyes scanned the board, noting the scratches on the used wooden chess pieces that came from Mello abusing the chessboard.

I picked up my queen, the black pieces and smiled internally. Not a scratch, the paint was glossy, and it also was weighted differently in my hand than the piece I was used to. This was a different piece, and the other one was nowhere to be seen. Someone had made the piece. If Near had Roger buy a new chessboard all together, then those were the pieces we'd be using.

I then saw the glimmer of a chain around Near's neck and the mystery of the missing piece was solved. Sadly, it wasn't the butler, that dream was going to have to be accomplished some other day. Anyways, I almost couldn't believe he was wearing the piece around his neck. Taking another drink from the coffee in my hands, I hid my smile from him. I was going to try to get the Mello-proclaimed sheep to display some emotion. That was the plan anyways, and my non-prank plans almost always end up with me getting hurt.

"Sneak attack!" I yelled as I launched myself onto the chessboard and held the small boy by his shoulder as I pulled the chain out from under his shirt. Nothing, nada, Near's face was still as emotionless as it was before I decided to kabob myself on chess pieces. "Hey Near, I don't think I need to say this, but the King and the Bishops are really pointy." My voice was barely above the whisper as the named pieces were poking my stomach. Near just blinked at my pain, some friend, before his eyes settled on the chess piece in front of his nose. I smiled as the queen that was swinging in the air. Near sighed and stared at the scratched black queen.

"Ebony, what are you doing?" he sighed as he gently took the piece from my hands, allowing me to push myself up off of the board, relieving my stomach from the bishops and kings. I frowned slightly, looking at all of the pieces that were knocked down and scattered around the black-and-white chess board. I giggled and put the pieces upright with both hands. I paused and looked at the black queen's knight, placing it on his spot, smiling to myself as the game board radiated in sparkles at how well it had been put back together.

"Why do you have a matching necklace?" I asked simply as I watched him calmly make the first move. A pawn, always the first move, mainly because pawns are expandable, that and they're just in the way. Only the pawn and the knight can make the first move. Moving a knight shows confidence, someone who really doesn't think rationally. Moving a pawn shows caution, patience, and someone who is willing to look at the entire board before moving. Near shrugged, not wanting to answer. "Come-on Near, you can tell me. Who am I going to tell anyways?" I met his eyes with mine and smiled reassuringly at him.

"It was on my window sill, then the Second Kira came around, and I became worried. I thought you would've gone to the TV station yourself, I stopped watching. Then Matt called and I was honestly shocked to hear your voice on the other end. You proved yourself to be the Queen, able to move anyway she pleases. Nobody knows what to expect of you." He stopped there, I was a smart person, and putting the pieces together was something that I was struggling with when it came to Kira. It was obvious that the killer was thinking things down to the detail. Near was a different story. He was a friend, therefore I knew where he was going with what he was saying. He thought I was going to die. I responded to his move with my own pawn.

"I see, I did act like that at one point," I said as Near moved his Queen's Knight. Scanning his eyes, I saw a small glimmer of worry still present in his eyes. I was going to have to spoil something. I moved another pawn, taking advantage of the two square advance on the center one. "I know I'm impulsive, but so far on this case it's been working for me." I beamed in pride, normally when I give into impulse, Mello turns red –like he did today- and I get a bruise.

Near nodded to himself and twirled his hair around his index finger. His other hand was used to move pieces around, avoiding my gaze. "What about last night, with the research you were doing, did you come to any conclusions on Shinigami?" I looked up at the kid and blinked a few times, shaking my head refusing to elaborate. I was getting nowhere and I wasn't too happy about it. Light had done what was expected, L even said he didn't like the sound of the situation, and gut instinct prevails once again. Sure I had information, but that was it. I needed more in order to draw a conclusion to that could be taken seriously. I was actually getting close, I just needed the information Mello had about Backup.

"Check," I said after good twenty or so moves, moving my bishop. Near moved his queen between my bishop and his king, looking at me as I shifted my position into the crouch L was infamous for. I was losing, only having one of each piece excluding the bishops, my queen still in play and only three pawns. Did I want to lose my one of my bishops to capture his queen? Better question would he even take the move? Probably, it was that or lose his queen. I moved my queen into position, to where it was still safe from Near's King's Knight and still able to capture his queen should he take the opportunity to capture my Bishop, which would also put myself in check.

Near's eyes widened ever so slightly as I went to take my fifth drink from the empty coffee mug. "Dang it! Need coffee, but must play," I said for the sixth time. Near didn't react to my eccentric distraction as he took my one and only bishop. Smiling to myself inwardly, I outwardly frowned as my mind took on a different track two thoughts flying through my head at once. One was happy Near was playing into my "trap" and the other made the parallel between this game and the case.

"Checkmate," he said as he sat the piece-a rook- in its place in the lineup of captured pieces on his block tower he had built during the game. His queen stood in the space that marked where my king was. The piece was overturned, rolling back and forth, but staying in one spot. The black king had fallen, according to the rules, it was game over.

I narrowed my eyes in thought as I looked at the pieces and really thought about the game. Basic rule, the white pieces go first. Though the pieces are Ivory, they went first like a murderer, thief, or any criminal. Crimes don't usually go unnoticed, law enforcement normally steps in and more times than not they win. As L said, "Justice will prevail." The police never make the first move, not in a crime, they answer the victims distress call. The Black pieces go after the white. They responded, and then each side tried to outsmart one another. In this case, L and I were the king and queen on the black side, and supposedly Light and Misa, possibly, were the ivory pieces.

Going back to the game, after coming to this conclusion, my stomach dropped. The king had just fallen, the game was over. "In the unlikely even I should die, you would have all the information and Kira would still be caught." The game had to carry on, just because the international rules of the game said that I should stop, didn't mean anything. I've broken plenty of rules, what's one more? My hands wrapped around a bishop and moved the piece.

"Ebony, you've lost. Game over. It's pointless to keep playing, just admit your defeat," Near said sternly frowning slightly. I turned head to the side and blinked in thought. I shook my head and stared at the fallen king. Sure the king had been captured, but there is still the queen on my side of the board, she had the most power.

"Near, when the king goes into war –if he's smart- he has someone on hand ready to take over his position, whether it be a son or his wife. If he should fall at the hands of battle, there are two options for those on his side. Either they surrender, or the keep fighting. By the rules of chess it's be default surrender. I find this rule to be stupid, but if it didn't cut off there you and I could be playing the same game for days," I said scratching the back of my head. "Giving up because one piece falls isn't my style though. Either way, I lost good game. I have a Mello to beg information from."

"Good luck," Near mumbled looking over the board in deep thought. I smiled and nodded as I spun around on my toe and left the room, switching gears within my head back onto the Shinigami, though to be honest it was always in the back of my mind, other thoughts had just ranked above it.

I walked into my room to set up the microphone, planning on using it to record the upcoming Mello-Ebony talk in private. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed in thought. I wasn't going to like asking the almighty Mello for help, but it was for a good cause. You can do this Ebony, you can show Mel that you aren't above asking for his help. Even when it eats away at your insides with each pleading word...it stings already.

I left the room and walked next door, knocking on Mello's door, the paint chipping off of the white door, a little more than what I remembered from six months ago. This shocked me, I am normally the reason why Mello's poor innocent door gets a boot to the wood. I heard a book, must've been a pretty heavy book, close as the snap of chocolate soon followed. I bowed my head and stared at the polished floors. You can do it Ebony, just ask for help.

"Ya? Oh, it's you. What the hell do you want?" Mello asked his sour mood still evident even though it as a good hour since our "fight." "If you here to rub in the fact you're smarter then leave and don't expect a welcome when you come back from saving the whole damn world." I shook my head and met his eyes. My stomach was in knots, he was so going to milk this entire situation as it is, my reluctance was just going to make things sweeter for him.

"I need your help Mel," I started as I scratched the back of my head. Mello's face showed confusion as I rocked from foot to foot in thought. "It's about Backup, and it's not in his old journal, I've already read through that in my head, nothing much, nothing but numbers." Mello smiled, the one that made me feel insignificant, like a rat in a maze. He tilted his head back and chuckled slightly. Narrowing his eyes slightly he took a bite from his chocolate.

"Alright, I'll help you, on one condition. You have to answer my questions about the Kira investigation and L," Mello sneered, knowing already that me asking for his help must mean I was really desperate. Even this egomaniac knows that I would rather go to Near for help. He also knew that I knew that he knew more about Beyond and his eyes than anyone else currently at Wammy's in person. Sure I could ask L, but that involved getting on the computer and setting up a communication link, too much effort. Besides I wanted to show him that I was able to do more than dancing in Kira's plan. It was clear these loose ends were really annoying.

"…fine," I consented rolling my eyes and sighing. Turning on my toe I jerked my head toward my bedroom and walked the five steps casually. "I warn you I will refrain from telling you too much, I rather you want my head on a steel pike than L." I heard Mello scoff as I crossed the threshold into my bedroom, pausing as Mello passed me and threw himself on my bed. I threw myself onto my chair, laying sideways as the snap of Mello's chocolate filled the air. I took a bite from my apple and looked at the fruit. Gods of Death loved apples. Beyond, I knew from his journal I found here, loved strawberry jam. The thing was coated in it, really sticky. If I wasn't positive he was in prison I'd be looking for him, slandering the names of two fruits, how dare he. This wasn't right though, it was only the one, and it wasn't even the fruit he was slandering it was the jam.

"What is said here doesn't leave this room. Some things I've never said out loud. For starters, the LABB murder cases happened in my home town. They were happening right before my eyes and I was following them mainly because my friend's initials were BB, like three of his victims. Watari came to my orphanage one day and gave us all a test over the case, only it was disguised within another test. From my understanding only those who noticed the first test got to take the second. Mello, that was the only test I took seriously. That is the sole reason I'm on this case, I'm 65% sure on that.

"Now, I simply need to know what you know about the case, specifically how BB chose his victims. I know it has to do with his eyes, L perked up at the mentioning of 'the eyes' by the second Kira, his lips even barely moved to form the letter 'b' twice." Mello nodded and sat up, leaning forward on his knees and looked at me through his hair, sighing and shook his head a couple of times.

"It's going to sound crazy, but according to L, and I'm sure he's tested it, Beyond can see people's names," Mello started. I turned my chair so I could watch as the letters typed themselves onto the screen. This wasn't going to be saved, I was using this so I could remember this in case I really needed to visit B so I can ensure that I had all information I could possibly have on the subject. A promise is a promise though, and I am typically a woman of my word. "I don't know the specifics, but he told L that he looks at someone with an unhidden face and he sees their name, and how long they were supposed to live. After he went ape-shit crazy he looked to people with the initials 'BB' and killed them when they were destined to die." I tilted my head and nodded slowly and thoughtfully. So, Kira B did need a name –in theory- she just had an abstract way of getting it.

Could this be why L didn't want me to go to see B? If Backup was to see my face there is no doubt after hearing this that he would be able to see my real name. Seeing how Kira B was able to kill with just a face, it's safer to assume B can do the same thing. Mello had told me this before, but I was taking notes this time, not missing a detail on "the eyes." I was sure this linked to the Kira case, but how did one obtain the eyes? If B was another Kira why didn't he just have them have a heart attack? If I remember right, he was doing all the killing himself, cleaning every square inch of the home of the victim before leaving the scene.

"Eb, are you alright?" asked Mello, causing me to jump. I looked at him wide-eyed and nodded. Another night in the library was sure to be in store for me. I nodded and he smirked. "Aright, now you owe me. Name the first thing you noticed about L." This was more of a demand than a question like he asked. A deals a deal however. I owed him.

Tilting my head I thought about my answer. "His hair," I started with a half-smile on my face. "It looks kinda like a porcupine. Sticks up everywhere, wonder if he uses hairspray." I tapped my chin in thought as I shifted in my chair to where I was hanging upside down. "Other than that, it would have to be that guy's sweet tooth." Alright that was a lie, it was his choice in clothes but I said I was going to keep some things a secret didn't I?

"How about how he works?" I just lifted my head to look at my desk. I then pointed at it and nodded. Then frowned, no this wasn't good enough, I had to answer his question accurately as our agreement stated. Clicking my tongue I found the solution to my problem, and smiled.

I jumped up and crouched on the chair, messing up my hair to it looked like I just woke up from a killer nap. I then bit on my thumb nail, tossing my apple core in the trashcan. My right hand was then resting on my knee as I stared owl-eyed at the computer screens, reading over what Mello had said over Backup and his eyes, closing the document and then looked over my shoulder at Mello.

"Basically like that," I responded with a smile. Mello looked at me like I was crazy. I just shrugged and returned to my normal sitting position, spinning round in the chair for a while. "He also has admitted to being childish. So, I find that my childishness is understandable, if not that than it's the only thing that's keeping me from being numbuh uno permanently. I dun wanna be there simply because I am expected to be serious, you should know that 'Ebony' and 'serious' only belong in a sentence together if 'isn't' is between them or 'is' is between them with 'about her pranks' after it." Mello just shook his head. I won! It might be a belated victory, but hey a win is a win, regardless of the time it occurs.

_**I like pointing out my favorite scenes, mostly because they are the ones that are fun to write, but this time I'm refraining because of the amount of symbolism and foreshadowing….though that just basically spelled it out….Yeah... oh well. I still have hidden puzzles hidden in this story :D Also, they are not just retrained to this story, there are some for the sequel and the prequel that I have planned. **_

_**This is the last story of the Wammy mini-arch thing. I'm going full-time back to the main cannon and glaze over Yotsuba Kira, I never really liked that arch mainly because Light is a Phony – a great big phony! Then it's wheels off I get to manipulate the story to my heart's content. **_

_**Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriteing, and following. **_

_**To Prince of Oriel: **__Is it sad I always read your reviews with an English accent in my head? I don't think so. I'm glad my updates make your day because your comments make my day. Funny thing though, my intention wasn't to say her mom had a photographic memory as well, more like Tiny-Ebony was always asking for that book to be read, but I like that better for some reason. Eh, I'll just leave it as is simply because it's fun to leave things to the interpreter._

_Ahh Now I get it. Yes I see it. Kage and that's Ebony's Last name. God I feel slow, then again where I am in the draft Ebony has changed her last name, what it is now I shall keep my lips..err..fingers sealed. It has to do with my not-so-subtle-foreshadowing-if-you-really-analyze-it foreshadowing. _

_As for me returning to the Death Note boards, I do have a sequel in mind. In mind? Who am I kidding, it's in the works and I'm still not done with the draft of this story yet, already have the prologue written. Still don't have a title either, but I have a lot of this story to edit through so I have time. I am also considering a prequel, that will tell the story of when Ebony first comes to Wammy's, and describing the book she found at Wammy's that belongs to Beyond, but I'm not sure yet. This is why I left the description of the book and what was written there vague. _

_**To Kashgal and Natures Ruler:**__**Ebony:**__ *Jerks wheel and turns head to glare at NR.* This is why I'm glad planes aren't a popular means for everyday travel, that turn could've killed us…I think. I'm too tired to think of the physics and factor in human reaction time. _

_**Pie:**__ Good because I really don't want you distracted while you fly. I'd like to live to see tomorrow._

_**Matt:**__ *Looks at writer* Please don't puke on me, not only is that totally gross, but it might short circuit my psp and then 'd have to start all over. I wanna see if I can play this game perfectly, without saving._

_**Pie:**__ Really? That's what you're concerned about?_

_**Ebony:**__ Don't make me turn this plane around! I've always wanted to say that. Dream accomplished. Oh look, the ground is opening up, I'm guessing I land there?_


	19. Chapter 19 I'm Throwing in the Towel

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any other copyrighted material referenced. Ebony is my character however.  
**

**Chapter Nineteen I'm Throwing in the Towel**

I snorted and jerked awake to a door slamming shut, and then came to my senses around the time Matsuda started exclaiming over something, clearly excited over something. I rolled over to my back and laid my arm over my eyes, what could it be this time? Being that this is Matsuda I am talking about, the sun could be shining and that guy would be excited. However, I did note he was a little depressed when Light was locked up. Those two had a delusion-filled relationship of two guys that are young in the world of the "big boys." Light –as far as I was concerned- was faking every minute. He also had the unfair advantage of being smarter than the room with me and L.

I sat up and saw Aizawa sitting reading a newspaper and L crouched over watching surveillance. The corners of my mouth immediately pulled down into a frown, shaking my head slightly as the random comments in the halls of Wammy's over the past week filtered through my head. "_Why is she back? Did L send her back for being stupid? Who does she think she is? It's not like she's smart. In fact, I think the ranking system in rigged, making her seem smarter." _ How I remembered them I didn't know. My audio-based memory is about as good as a cave's echo. I can recall it once clearly if I'm lucky, but it's mostly a jumbled mess. I was giving up on the interrogations, I had no other choice I had failed. I knew I had a limited amount of time and I didn't use it. I got absolutely no information, and it's been two weeks and no killings have happened since Light was locked up. Pair that with the weird memory lapse and personality change and we had no case because there was no proof. All I was supposed to get was proof.

"W-what's going on? I just heard _two _weeks' worth of criminals just murdered all at once. It happened yesterday," Matsuda almost yelled walking into the main room of our temporary hotel headquarters. I tilted my head to the side in thought, what was he trying to pull. We know Kira can kill at any time he pleases. This could easily apply to weeks, maybe even years. If this was Light it'd be easy to tell, the names of victims would be dated. Also for the magnitude of these deaths, there would've had to have been a dip in the number of kills before Light's confinement. This was a new Kira. Light was just playing with us.

"Yeah," the afro-man half-growled. "Kira is back." Matsuda and I walked over and looked at the news headline. I frowned at it and locked my jaw in frustration. This was going to have to be kept from Light and Misa, why? They were Kira, and I wasn't going to give that up so easily. I was going to have to though, I could couldn't just sit here and do nothing. There was no more we can get from this. I had to move on. Maybe the shinigami concept was worth my time. I mean, I did get some information during my absence. Though, the probability of them actually being real, was slim.

"So have you told the Chief?" asked the flustered detective. I shook my head slowly as Aizawa said they hadn't. I grabbed Matsuda's hand as he started going toward the microphones, eyes widened in excitement. "Ebony?" he asked I held up a finger and turned toward L. There was something that had to be said. A simple sentence would be said that would say that we were on the same page, and I wanted to see how much this peeved L. My hair fell between my eyes as my face grew serious, the fact I had been avoiding sleep all but forgotten as I jumped back into action, trying to think how this new killer changed the game. Trying to make sense of the chess pieces and where they lied on the board.

"This almost clears their names," I said gesturing with my chin toward the monitors. My voice was tough, not giving away any emotion. L didn't respond to me, or at least that's what it appeared. I saw the muscles on his shoulders slightly tense at my question. This was getting somewhat interesting. "Someone give me a towel! I Ebony Kage am thinking about giving up! I failed to get the information we were looking for. Though I don't mind losing, I hate losing when I play to win." L nodded as I released Matsuda and he scrambled to the microphone and picked it up. I followed calmly and sat sideways in the chair next to L. My eyes turned to the monitor of Light, my lip turning up slightly in a snarl.

"Guess what Chief! Kira started killing again!" Matsuda cheered, bouncing on the balls of his feet, eyes widened in excitement. Shaking my head internally, I was disgusted. I never thought I'd see the day when we'd all be "happy" that Kira is killing. Shows how much faith these people had in Light, how much that guy had been able to convince them that he was innocent. He was the opposite, I was sure of it. There was only a few pieces that needed to be placed into the puzzle. That wasn't going to happen anymore. I had lost. "It looks like Kira was only resting but now he started punishing criminals again!" I hated every word of that sentence, it was all false, but I had no proof to prove it otherwise. I had to sit still and quiet while this played out, no doubt according to Light's plan.

"Knowing Ryuzaki this won't be enough to clear his name," Mr. Yagami said in reference to Light and his innocence. Everyone looked at the detective, oh yeah it's not like I'm back or anything just ignore me, I'm totally insignificant. I might've been the one in charge of his interrogation but I _clearly_ mean nothing at this point in time. So, the powers at play let me out, I chose to close them out and replay –for the seemingly tenth time that day- watching Light lose his memory. Something about this still wasn't right. Either way there was nothing I could do about it. But why was I so eager to move on, yet so reluctant. There was a piece missing, no there were multiple pieces missing.

"Well, he's in the gray," L lied smoothly everyone else's shoulders tensed in happiness. I smiled, exactly what I needed to hear. Yet again the geniuses were on the same page. How did I know he lied? Simple cue, he was avoiding eye contact, and I had actually sat down and thought about how he acted every time he talked about Light's guilt. Thus I realized I was a gullible little girl who committed the Ebony equivalent of a sin and played into the expected quota by believing him. How I remembered what he said? I didn't I've just tried my hand at reading lips. Not a good thing, at one point I thought he said something along the lines of "Light is a unicorn," but tha's not important now is it? I looked up at Matsuda yelled into the microphone repeating L's words.

"Yeah, it's sure a hell of a lot better than being completely guilty," the chief said with a small chuckle at the news. I closed my eyes and bowed my head, sighing to myself. If you only knew, I decided to turn my head toward the monitors of everyone that was being held in prison. If everyone thought I was working on this still, well they can float on that boat until Japan is flooded and the boat is actually useful. We're on an island people, it's bound to happen sometime soon.

"Matuda!" yelled L causing me to jump out of thought. I saw the young detective hold his hand to his chest, it had just been slapped. Blinking a few times, I followed his eyes to the monitor with Light, the microphone sitting neatly in front of it. "I mean please don't Mr. Matsuda. We shouldn't tell him about this." I nodded in agreement, and then turned back to the screen still thinking about whether or not I was sure I should throw in the towel. I mean, that's something I've never done yet, and seeing how I remember most of my life up to this point I'd say that something as remarkable as actually throwing in a towel in defeat. I mean how cool is that?

"Why not?" I sighed at the young cop's ignorance as L pressed the button that connected him to Light's cell and started explaining that it's been two weeks and no killing have been reported, half the truth, but an entire lie. I glared at L, there had to be more that he was hiding. There were secrets that even I didn't know about him yet, and between what he's told me and what I've observed I'd say I knew a lot about L at this point in time. He then asked for a confession. I turned toward the two confused cops as Light demanded that L look him in the eyes and say that they weren't the ones of a liar. Taking my own glance, I found that he was for once telling the truth. I slowly pushed my head back, shaking it in disbelief.

"He's –I mean there's no sign of Light lying in his eyes," I started in a whisper to answer their confused faces, I heard Matsuda and Aizawa start to argue with my simple statement, pointing out that they never doubted Light's innocence. "It doesn't make sense. None of this makes any sense anymore! I can't take it anymore, L I am throwing in the towel. I failed, we're in check at this point and our next move has to be carefully thought out or else we could lose this game." My hand started twitching, asking –begging me for an apple. If anytime was a good time for fruit, a crisis was a good time. Well, there was never a _wrong_ time for fruit either. I needed my thinking fruit, answering Aizawa's and Matsuda's questions on why I "surprisingly" decided to drop the case had to be answered.

"Ebony, when you say that you're giving up, could you please clarify? Also Matsuda I think she would also appreciate it if you would get her an apple. Her hand is twitching," the detective stated in a casual tone of voice. This hid his slight confusion, making it seem as if he was in charge of the situation. I ran a hand through my hair and trained my eyes on him, watching intently as he put his thumb in my mouth. I did say I loved being unpredictable, and well this was the last thing everyone expected. I did come across as a dedicated person under all of my antics. Hey, now I could spend more time focusing on pranks, or this other issue taking a stand in my mind.

"Sure can!" I said happily as I bit into the fruit the fruit god –I mean Matsuda- gave to me. "During my 'vacation' I saw Light's memory loss scene and I looked into a psychological explanation. Some things like Dissociative Amnesia, or even Dissociative Identity disorder. That didn't add up, DID is a completely different identity with its own memories. Using information from Mr. Yagami and what I have gathered on my own I can confidently say that said 'solution' isn't it. Amnesia just doesn't roll off the tongue right. If it was amnesia, then what has he forgotten, unless Light really is Kira and he forgot he is. Then the question is raised, how does one forget he's killed thousands of people in one night? Also, I drew this picture." I pulled out the picture of Light's eyes before and after his memory lapse that had no explanation. L hand his hand out and I gave it to him with a slight nod, smiling to myself.

L held the page with his index finger and thumb, like he held everything as I went to get come coffee. I've slept for who knows how long and I was still tired. What does a genius have to do for a good night err day's sleep? Jet lag didn't help at all either. 12 hours in the air plus about a week with no sleep, I was getting L bags. Well, if this continued I could be a panda for Halloween, but that would be pointless because last I checked Trick or Treating in Japan is pointless. I sat sideways in the chair as the detective passed the page around. I raised an eyebrow expecting an answer. L bit his thumb in thought as Matsuda said something completely unrelated. That has accounted for 50% of what he says though.

"This is really good Ebony!" I nodded my thanks and crossed my arms, come on tell me what I'm hoping you saw, I tried to emphasize it. I scratched my nose and turned toward Misa's monitor. She screamed innocence, but watching her for the past several weeks and doing some digging on her life I couldn't help but to feel a little sympathetic toward her. She was alone, her parents were murdered –like mine and she lived alone from what I found. I didn't want to catch her, if Kira was caught, and if we talked to her she seemed like the kind of person who would stop killing.

"These eyes are different," Aizawa said causing a smile to spread across my lips. We had a winner. L nodded, he had taken his thumb away from his mouth ages ago, trying to see how long it took for them to catch on. Sure things like this were easy to isolate with technology, but it was something that people wouldn't normally think of. The memory lapse and personality change would be the foremost issue. "One's dark the other is light." I held out my hand and was handed my drawing. I folded it in half and put the "light" eye by Light's face. I heard Matsuda's breath catch.

"One was drawn to illustrate Light before being captured and the other one to demonstrate how he has changed while being in confinement. Typically the pictures would be reversed. This goes back to the fact Ebony had said she's seen something that suggests that he is hiding a secret. Now the question is; could this be Kira related?" L asked quietly looking at the picture, his thumb brought back to his mouth. His other hand reached forward and picked up a fork and got a bite from the crème pie in front of him. I started to stand up, to get some fruit. My tummy was making the rumblies. Matsuda, like the awesome mind-reader he can be, handed me a peach.

"It's the only thing I can think of, I drew that the first night I arrived at home. After you called me, and I reviewed the video. It was after Light said something about getting rid of something, what he really means is beyond me, but if you zoom in on his eyes not only do they become rounder but they lighten in innocence. Like I keep saying –mainly to myself- he was Kira, now I am fully convinced he isn't Kira at the moment, but I want to keep him there for safety reasons. Over all I'm saying I don't know what to think of it other than how he would want us to think of it." I frowned and bit into the peach to prevent me from grumbling under my breath complaints on something I couldn't change at this point.

"And you're saying he would want us to believe he's innocent?" asked the older cop catching on rather quickly at this point. I turned toward him and nodded. "It sounds like you still suspect him." We all agreed he was in the gray area, I had every right to still think he's Kira. I couldn't tell them the truth though, I was nowhere microscopically close to "being in the gray" when it came to Light's suspicion level. I had to lie, there was no other real option. Honest Abe would frown on me if he knew what I was about to do. Alright, I'm over it, time to follow the footsteps of my mentor.

"68%," I lied biting the inside of my bottom lip right after saying the number. Fighting back a sigh I looked at Light who was staring at the floor of his cell. I leaned over and pressed the microphone button. "Light, it's me," my voice was saddened, the emotion completely sincere. The teen perked up at my voice, his lip curling up in disgust, his acting skills have also decreased. This if anything helped my case, but I wasn't going to point it out. If I did it would give Aizawa enough ground to call my bluff and that wouldn't be good. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for how I have been treating you, I had no right. I should've gotten to know you better rather than judging you from the impression I had gotten from reading your eyes." This stumped him, it was clear. I looked around me, I have stumped everyone with a simple apology. Even L was looked at me more wide-eyed than usual. Score three for Ebony!

I stood up and walked to the window, and looked outside to the city. I bowed my head slightly down in thought as the morning sun hit my face. Light never smirked, his eyes were widened in pure and utter genuine shock. If Light had been Kira, there would've been a flash of what could be taken as a sign of excitement. None, and I was expecting that. That was it. I was done with Light, I wasn't the best at keeping a believable story. As long as I believed Light was Kira, I wouldn't be able to hold back the Ebony that reared her head at Wammy's, the Ebony that wouldn't stop until what the goal of my plan had been achieved. My impulsive nature would kick in and every hotel we would leave would be covered in peanut butter or something. I would be on the news simply because my philosophy was "go big or go home."

"Ryuzaki, I'm stumped, you are too it's painted on your face. I don't know what we're going to do from here on out other than start investigating what this new Kira is doing. Over three hundred people killed in a day, that's outrageous; if you want to keep interrogating them I can't stop you, don't expect me to pitch in. I am the student here after all." My hands were behind my back. I hated giving up, it irritated me. I am not a quitter, but I was backed into a wall. There was no more information to be uncovered by the amnesia twins. My jaw was locked in pure frustration as Matsuda and Aizawa stared at my back their expressions almost impossible to read in the glass. There had been some play arguments here over the small details like while we mulled over the conditions of deaths, looking for trends, I would insist until I was blue in the face that something was the way it was.

"I understand, and I agree having you investigate Kira's new killings would be a better use of your time and effort. I'm proud of your maturity on this subject," L responded as he called Watari, saying that I was in charge of investigating Kira's new activity. I turned to look at Matsuda and Aizawa and smiled at them, the emotion was forced, my stomach in knots about my decision. It wasn't me. I might not like completing some tasks, like eating vegetables. I mean I know those things are healthy, but they're almost tasteless. If not that then they taste like leaves –yuck. Either way, when I start something I typically finish it, might take a while, but it get's done.

"I don't expect you two to chose, don't worry. I will also be sharing what I find with Ryuzaki, but I'm always open for help. I only need to see pages one time before and I can recall them pretty well remember that." I smiled and skipped toward the door, pausing. "Before I start though, I have a few things I need to think out, and I need someone to help me piece together a few kinks." Walking out of the room, I decided on impulse to take the stairs, keeping my body moving as I opened the mental block I had set up to keep any and all information I had gathered on the Shinigami out of my head.

I had talked to Matt about it, knowing that if I had talked to Mello or Near about what I was thinking specifically those two would go off on their own investigation trying to beat me to the right answer. I know that I had told Near, but having the little guy looking into it thinking I had impulsively looked up Shinigami was one thing. He knew I had a link, but that could be explained through a complicated road map. Matt thought I might've been onto something, but that it needed to be thought out with someone else. He was great moral support, like any boyfriend or best friend, but if I wanted to get to answers he was right, he was more about living life in the moment and not dwell on puzzles that didn't involve video games.

I stared at a random spot in the flawless carpet, chewing on the half-eaten peach in my hand. _"L, did you know Gods of Death love apples?" "We can show each other our Shinigami." "If one were to come across the Grim Reaper, said person will most likely die of a heart attack." _The missing apple, no trace not even the smell of apple juices on the carpet where it should've landed, heart attacks at an all time high_. "You don't have the eyes." "' Beyond can see people's names. I don't know the specifics, but he told L that he looks at someone with an unhidden face and he sees their name, and how long they were supposed to live.'"_ Ukita's body, no name given, he's dead. Shinigami, were popping up, loose ends that didn't match were matching with this word. This concept, it was too farfetched. This information kept turning in my head, causing me to eventually to stop walking mere feet from Watari's room a floor below the meeting room.

I let out a small squeak as my back met with the wall, causing me to jump, and turn around to see the beige wall. Sliding down I noticed I was shaking as I slowly shook my head as the information and the references just kept pouring in. My body began trembling, shaking my head in disbelief. I didn't want to believe it. If shinigami was the answer, then Light could have access to unbelievable power _if_ these gods of death could really see our names. The most frightening part was, I couldn't see them. Nobody could. This could also explain why Light scanned rooms cautiously, his eyes settling on the wall beside him, or in the opposite corner.

Gods of death had many names, Thanatos, Odin with his Valkyries, Azreal, there was more, but they quickly ran into another one. My entire head flooding with more and more information, myths and more names came to my attention only for the time it takes to blink. Bringing my knees to my chest I hugged them, my eyes still widened in shock, my body still shaking. Information continued to fly through, the Greek's belief of Hades, who Hades really was. I was starting to hate how I left no stone unturned.

"Ebony?" I jumped and noticed my heart was hammering in my check, sweat running down the side of my face. My eyes were wide, barely blinking as I hugged my knees and shook my head again slowly as I looked up. Watari looked at me curiously, kneeling down to look me in the eyes, clearly not caring that we were in the middle of the hotel's hallway. How he knew I was there having a mental overload, I will never know. "Are you alright? Physically I was fine, but my thoughts they were everywhere. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was.

"I-I'm fine, was just thinking a little too hard on something. It happens. Got overwhelmed," I mumbled as I continued to stare at the ground. "Watari, if it wouldn't be too much to ask, and knowing you it's not, but I have a lot on my mind that I need to talk through. Would you mind being that person?" The old man chuckled at me as my hair fell into my face, between my eyes. My trembling started to slow down, the early signs of a headache making themselves known.

"Of course Ebony. Now let's talk about this within the hotel room, wouldn't want anyone to overhear us would we?" the older man offered as he helped me to my feet. I blinked and looked at the floor, my breathing started to regulate back to a calm state. I closed my eyes and grabbed my head as the last of the information I had gathered finished flashed through my head, my muscles relaxing completely. I nodded and pushed some hair behind my hair.

I said nothing as I walked into the identical hotel room, taking a seat as the old man went to get some tea. My eyes squeezed shut in response to my head throbbing from the magnitude of my headache of death. I held the bridge of my nose, as a tea cup was set on the coffee table, the older man taking a seat across of the small table. Watari wasn't one to grill you on what's wrong, but when he offers to be an open book and allow you to spill out your troubles, it's hard to say no. I never had secrets, or deep profound thoughts to share with my parents. From what I've read, and seen on TV, Watari was the fatherly figure I never had been able to take advantage of.

"Errr, Watari?" I asked looking up at the older man with wide innocent eyes. I leaned forward and grabbed the tea cup, taking a sip. I might have an English upbringing, but I still maintained my American accent. He looked down at me with caring eyes. "I'm confused. I don't really know what to think about some of the things that have happened. I've came up with some explanations, but they are so outlandish that I'm not sure they could even be possible. Should I keep looking into them?" I rubbed my forehead again, closing my eyes as pictures fluttered through my head again. The headache getting slightly worse, I was going to need a nap, and some aspirin.

"If I recall right, you said that we shouldn't disregard any possibilities. Even if they only have a 1% likelihood of being the right answer." I looked at him, using my own words against me, clever. It had been done before, Matt or Mello, sometimes even tiny Near has done that. Me being well the awesome prankster I am, always forgets what I say. Yeah, I know my pranking had nothing to do with my horrible memory at remembering what people said, but I sounded cool in my head. I nodded and smiled, there was my answer, I had it all along. Holding my hands in my lap, I put the tea cup on the table and ran a hand through my hair.

"You're right. I should follow my own advice. Thank-you Watari, and if you could please get me to the information on the dead criminals ready before I get back, and five tacos, I want to eat dinner and read up on at least twenty criminals before I crash. Also, I plan on making a fort with the folders." I nodded contently to myself, blinking in thought. Pausing as I figured I'd let him know exactly why I was finding my thoughts hard to believe. "I think Shinigami are real. It's not a strong belief, I'm reluctant to believe it. The facts, they all point toward them." My voice was quiet, soft, barely heard in my own ears. I heard Watari's breath catch.

"First it was the suicide notes, it mentions the gods of death and their love of apples. When the second Kira mentioned Shinigami, I dropped an apple. I've gone through every logical explanation using every math formula I know –which is a lot mind you- to figure out where that glorious piece of fruit went. I went as far as to tear-up the hotel room and slowly put it back together. No matter what I did, I didn't find it." I paused and bit the inside of my lip, frowning at the floor.

"Both Backup and the Second Kira can see names and life spans. The only difference is how the Second Kira kills. That slight connection and the mentioning of Shinigami, gives me this tie. This ability is rare, I don't really know that to think of it. If we could find out what tie that ability has to this case. Surely this isn't a coincidence, that two killers have this strange sight. I promised L I wouldn't interrogate B, but I've always found ways around rules. I have a solution in mind, I just need to find a way to put it in action." I smiled mischievously, finding loopholes is my specialty. Figuring out how to craft a plan to work around them could at times be compared to telling an elephant to jump.

The plan was set, get Matt or Mello, whichever one was more willing and wouldn't act so many questions, would pose as L and call the jail center where B was being held. I would configure the voice change, and "accidently" send that along with the subtle suggestion of what it was meant for, I'm not contacting B as I promised. Matt would connect to the police station and either the red-head himself or Mello would talk to the convict. Then the information would be relayed to me using code.

"I see, that does provide enough evidence for you to look into the subject doesn't it. Did you find anything?" I stiffened again, getting ready for another wave of recall. It never came. The headache didn't move an inch though as I moved to massage my forehead. I told Watari the quote from the book I had memorized from the library as the car came to a stop. "A heart attack, are you sure?"

"Watari, I read it. Multiple times. I have that entire page engraved into my head and no matter how hard I try to read around that line, I can't avoid it." I shook my head as if it was an Etch-and-sketch, it didn't work that line was still there. "With that line in my head, it makes since. Everything does, especially the fact a heart attack here in Japan can be succeeded by another one in America in a matter of seconds. The only hole I haven't been able to solve is how Kira got his hands on one." Sure there were other questions, like if we ever found one would I have to share my apples. I can tell you one thing, I they're my apples. No body touches my apples.

"Ebony, if I may, why have you decided to focus on the Shinigami all of a sudden?" Watari asked causing me to stop my apple rant, and actually sit back and think of my childish decision. Yes, I know what I called it. When the going got tough I backed out. I threw in the towel because I was out of ideas, I came to a conclusion within a day after seeing Light play dumb. Personally I hate defeat, when I have every intention of wining. I promised I'd win this game, but I was in a position in which my piece in all of this was in danger.

"I moved on because there was nothing more for me to do with the intention of getting information from Light and Misa. Once Light followed in Misa's footsteps I was frustrated, lost, and I latched onto one of the questions that plagued my mind." Watari nodded as I sat sideways, looking up at the ceiling.

I came to Japan to prove to myself that I wasn't a total loss, that I had the potential to be L if I had put my mind to it without having to deal with the hate-filled faces of Wammy's due to my surprising advance in the ranks. It was complete impulse though, the plan to actually try here and show the world what really goes on in my head was thought up on the plane ride here. I told myself that Kira was going to be caught and I was going to have my part in his capture.

Now, Light had played a move I had anticipated, but had no way of counterattacking. He had a small smirk in that video as his memory was erased, personality completely changing. I knew what he wanted, and I knew he knew what we wanted from him. He also knew that eventually Task Force would protest his confinement and break him out. I also knew L wouldn't back down and no matter how much I didn't want to back down, I knew one genius had to be on good terms with our police friends.

"So, this is how Mells feels, all this effort gone to waste," I whispered to myself as I leaned back into the leather seats of the car as it came to a gentle stop in front of the store. I hugged my knees and told Watari that I would be fine in the car, that I had more things to think out. I was still trying to reason with myself that I was making the right decision.

In my gut I was positive Light Yagami was Kira, but my mind was hesitant. The lessons I had vaguely paid attention to at Wammy's taught me to question everything and not believe in anything unless there was proof to back it up. I wasn't one to do that. I wasn't gullible by any means, but I wasn't an investigator normally. I was satisfied not knowing everything. This all changed with the Kira case.

I was also slowly becoming paranoid, no longer was I compelled to run up to random strangers that looked lonely and introduce myself. Granted, I more or less acknowledged myself as Ebony more than I did my real name, that wasn't the point. The point was, I wasn't happy bubbly Ebony anymore, my destructive outgoing nature didn't show at all at Wammy's in the past week. Fact, the most Ebony-like thing I had done was the prank. Sure I had hung out, but considering I had been gone for six months one would half-expect me to booby-trap every hallway while everyone was asleep. Maybe I should do that later.

"Thank you for listening Watari, it might not seem like it, but it helped a lot. I am not going to be able to prove that Light is Kira at this moment, but I will help to catch this new Kira. With the help of your delicious cooking, I mean have you tried your tacos? They remind me of home," I responded with a smile painting my face. I stood up and hugged him, I was going to tell L my plans, he needed to know just what I did over the vacation. I knew he was starting to think I had wasted my time.

* * *

**Slow updates are irritating me. Sorry again this took until the day after tomorrow to update. I am trying to balance, I mean I just got to a part in the draft that I have been waiting to get to since I started this story (and there is like three spots where this occurs) and when I'm done with that spot I'm immediately going to the next spot I've been a good writer and completely ignoring until I got there in the plot. After this spot I have 2 epilogues to write (yeah your read right 2) and then I'm done with the draft. This is all being said I also have another story going on.**

**In other news, I have more time to write. Marching season is over for me, well it will be after one more drumline competition but that's in early November. **

**Thanks for reading, reviewing, alerting, and favoriting. **

**To Chocoholics Unite: **_Sorry I took until the world ended. It's tough being a band kid with other hobbies that take up a lot of time. I'm going to go on Hiatus for a while because of some medical work I'm going to have to go through, but I'll do what I can. Sorry. DX_

**To Kashgal and Natures Ruler:**

_**Ebony:**__ What do you mean I didn't kill you? I happen to be a beast at flying simulators. _

_**Matt and Pie: **__*glares at Ebony*_

_**Ebony:**__ Don't go there, I only crash because I get bored, and what better way to get rid of boredom than to crash a fake plane. Sick bay? Ebony likes this chick already…is there any fruit?_

_**Pie:**__ I could go for some fruit too, maybe a smoothie. _

_**Matt:**__ I think we're missing the point here, Mello is probably injured and he isn't going to be happy. _

_**Ebony:**__ Yeah? He's always fun to talk to when he's not happy, things get interesting. *smiled evilly*_

_**Pie:**__ Well, I guess the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree…._

**To ILAUGHATYOUALL:**_ Welcome to my DN fan fiction! Lol Here is the part of your review I didn't respond to in PM Along with other weird comments._

_1. It is but it isn't I'll explain when I get to a certain point in the story on how I decided to write this story. This was going to be like "The Overseer" as it was an extra plot, but as I wrote more in my head I realized I was basically going to have to tell the Kira case in numerous flashbacks and that was just going to be a pain in my butt. _

_2. I answered in PM and I did read up on hyperthermesiac and it is really interesting, and freaky at the same time. I couldn't imagine living like that without a headache. _

_**To Prince of Oriel: **__ Hey I just took about a month to post this chapter, I don't mind. To be honest, I'm surprised I don't have a mob of people searching for me because of my lack of updates. I know the feeling of homework. Band practice until 7 at night sometimes then I have to shower, eat and do homework. I'm surprised I don't have L bags. _

_I was actually pretty accurate. I don't know if that's good or bad or what. I looked at a few of your videos, didn't subscribe simply because I was too lazy to sign in. I don't really care about the favorites or reviews even. If you still want to favorite go ahead and favorite I don't really care. I'll probably end up subscribing when I get to signing into youtube again, possibly when I start watching anime again, I haven't had any time here recently and I have 10 episodes of hetalia waiting for me to watch. _

_I didn't know I ranked in the all-time favorite category. That makes Pie really happy. Yeah, the plot is going to be completely mine, and I might actually outline it, I have the first arch thingy written in my head, and now I just need to type it after I'm done with the rough draft with this one. _


	20. Chapter 20 Klutziness is Deadly

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, but I do own Ebony**

**I know this chapter involves Ebony rambling, but it's Ebony. Even I don't know what's going to come out of her mouth and I write what she says.**

**Chapter Twenty Klutziness is Deadly **

"Why Kira? You killed so many people in such a short amount of time. All this reading makes my eyes want to jump out of their eye sockets and run away to Canada. Nothing happens in Canada," I groaned as I closed the file of a doctor that used to be corrupt. His ways only changed because he is now one with the dirt. Though, the more I read up on this American doctor, the more doubts I had toward how good the worms were going to be eating. What normally would be a buffet of decomposed human guts and flesh would now be corrupted and just plain nasty.

Do worms even have a preference on what kind of human flesh they eat? I mean seriously, do they go up to each other, "Yeah I ate a guy from Georgia once, he was a little too earthy for my taste, but if you want some good human eyeball, go find a French person très magnifique. très magnifique." Though that'd be weird, why would a French person come to America? All we have are cheeseburgers and rude people. These are question I must have answered, well not right now because my freaking eyes are going to pop and start bleeding from all of this reading, but I did say I was going to stop Kira C. I swear if we get all the way to "Z" with these Kira names, I'm going to have a breakdown.

I pushed myself off of my stomach and peaked over my paper fort, watching as the ever elusive L stared down another hour of surveillance since my return to Japan. Accompany that with how he never seemed to blink, let alone sleep, I had a few questions for him. How does his eyes not get tired? I'm reading paper and I just explained how my eyes feel. I just couldn't figure out how he wasn't feeling the tired eye I was, was beyond me. He must be a robot. All of those science-fiction novels make so much sense now! It also explains his sugar intake, Watari, from the research Matt and I had done, was an inventor. He must've made L to run on sugar and coffee. I wanna be an android! Then my eyes won't retreat to Canada.

Looking on the bright side, if there is one, I guess I can say that the khaki color of the folders was always the favorite for me, a person with a very colorful personality. Come-on people the only thing that looks good with rainbow was manila. I say this with a lot of sarcasm, beige is the most boring color known to man. I turned to my right and looked at the opened folder, victim number 24 out of 322, I was going to be reading for a long, long time. Why couldn't I be a normal kid? I mean, my life had succumbed to me reading the criminal and personal files of dead criminals, yet I am still a happy person who can't take life seriously. Man, I sound morbid. This makes me wonder how my life would be like if I was of normal intelligence. I would probably stare at a butterfly, those things are beautiful.

I then turned to my left and picked up a taco, biting into it happily. I closed my eyes and started swaying back and forth smiling. I love tacos. Not as much as fruit. I mean I have yet to find anything on this planet that can measure up to the awesomeness of fruit, but tacos were a close third. Second was reserved for Matt, he's just as much as my partner in crime as he is Mello's. Sure there is that whole thing of how we are a "thing" now, but that just gives him bonus points on the awesomeness scale. And before you do all "You're in Japan, there are no taco's in Japan," rant I don't care that I am not in a place where tacos are socially acceptable as any type of food. I can't remember when I last had a taco, it was before I went to Wammy's and that was years ago. Regardless, these were the best tacos I've ever had, and I've had a fair sample of tacos. I yelled out my compliments to the chef, Watari bowed his head in response.

I laid back in my "read" pile, paper flying up and landing on my face. I don't think that having paper on my face means I'm reading it. If I was then, this would be very awkward. Not to mention hard to read, I couldn't focus on a single line let alone ink dot. I could practically see the ink splotches. Speaking of ink, how many ink cartages did Watari use printing the three trees of paper here? I pushed the page off of my face and into the pile. It was literally a pile and now I had to put the papers back into their manila folders. Though I didn't even make sure the right papers got into the right official folder. Yes before you, manila equals official forever and always.

"From within this structure I shall forget my failure!" I proclaimed pointing toward the ceiling. I stretched my arms upward as I sat up and looked at my empty plate of tacos, even in mid digestion still the best tacos ever. I then, like I was in war, cowered behind the wall that wouldn't be able to protect me from anyone. Ya know, if Near was here he'd probably arrange his plastic robot army to attack the structures while he contemplates the mysteries of the universe. All I have to say to him is, 42, and pack a towel. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy people, live it.

"Ebony," L started. I sat up and looked above my knee high wall of paper and manila folders. The detective was crouched on the other side of my fortress, thumb nail in his mouth in thought. I pleasantly smiled at him as I weaved a strand of hair within my index and middle finger, pulling it from my face. "You mentioned that you had some theories on the case, everyone on surveillance is asleep, now would be the best time to share them without interruptions wouldn't you agree?" My eyes widened, then relaxed, I should've seen this coming. Never has L been so direct other than when it came to the case. The last time I checked, my ideas on Shinigami counted as details on the Kira case. I nodded and crossed my legs setting my plate on the end table beside my fort.

"I actually have a few different theories over the same concept, I however don't even fully believe them. Overall I say that the chances of one of these being the answer are extremely slim, 3%. Then again that's where we were on our suspicion on Light at the beginning. That being said, I say we focus on this third Kira and wait to test these theories out using the outcome of this branch of the investigation." I gestured around me and my wall of paper. L nodded slowly as I smiled to myself hugged my knees to my chest. I took a deep breath. Where to begin? This was always the hardest when talking to someone who is so aloof, I don't know where he lies on the intelligence scale. The intimidating fact that I knew he was smarter than me. I don't know how roe act to this, I mean I could talk to him like I do Near, but even then I have to explain a little to the kid. I bit the inside of my lip, and searched for the words to explain this. I mean I say some pretty off the wall things, please refer to chapter 9 if you have forgotten, but this will easily take the cake on my craziness.

"First I find it appropriate to give you the information as to where these outlandish theories come from, I'll have to explain this at some point even to you, so here goes information. If you need me to stop and repeat anything, or explain something in more depth, just tap my knee, or in this case my head, that normally shuts me up." L nodded as I l scratched my head and looked at the monitor associated with Light, he gave the biggest clues. Misa had just backed him up, whether Light expected me to take this information and run, well that was beyond me. I was hoping a no, but secretly I knew it was a yes.

"Some of this I shared with Near, it was a late night and that moment where everything clicks. Man, that feeling was really good, and I couldn't just ignore it ya know? Well maybe not but I've gone off topic. I was bored and I went back and looked at old evidence. Namely the message 'L did you know, Gods of Death love apples?' It has never sat right with me just leaving that message as is. I don't know why I think it is because I think that because Gods of Death, or Shinigami, were then mentioned again by Misa only a few months later. This was enough to convince me to go ahead and look into it on vacation, I knew you weren't. No offence L, but you seem obsessed with this at the moment. I figured that when Light mirrored Misa with the memory loss I was going to get bored. I've been bored here at time, but it was been minor compared to that of Wammy's once I made cheese explode out of the – right I'm off topic sorry.

"Being in England and looking up 'Shinigami' was tough, mostly because Shinigami is Japanese lore and Wammy's didn't exactly have the books I need. Ya know we should change that simply because I know that not every orphan that walks through those doors knows English. I have had to translate for Roger a few times, once with a Russian kid, once with a German kid, and once for a Frenchie. No, I'm not ADHD stop looking at me like that, and no I can't read minds I just have a hard time focusing and after I go off on at least two tangents people start to think this." I defended as L turned to face me as I started to ramble again. I paused waiting for him to blink once before continuing, so he _can_ blink. "I went back to my drawing board, a simple laptop, and looked it up online and found out what I should've figured out on my own. Grim Reapers equals Shinigami. Need I say more?

"So being in an English Library I found out that upon looking on a Grim Reaper one will die of cardiac arrest." I paused here for dramatic effect biting my lip, getting ready to launch into the first two of my theories. Watari walked though, setting some ice cream cake on the table for L, a fruit salad for me. I sat up, still dramatic pausing as I picked up the bowl and held up a grape, studying it before putting it in my mouth. L cleared his throat loudly, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I smiled, "Yeah I heard ya, I was just waiting to see how long it would take you to get impatient.

"Now, this solves the mystery of where Kira gets the heart attack of his powers, in theory. There are too many unanswered questions, so don't go throwing those at me. I asked those all the while I was thinking of this whole sha-bang. Using a Shinigami itself to go to each and every location and kill that person does seem tedious, and time consuming. Accompany that with this Swiss cheese maker of a statement and the question of how nobody else sees this being and how he's going around in the blink of an eye and killing these people is asked. So to solve these doubts, the next night no less, I went and looked up the qualities of a 'god.' I mean it was either that or he has an invisible death god army, and if that's the case how do people see said death god to have the deadly heart attacks. Unless it's invisible paint, but that stains clothes and that's just nasty.

"Gods, according to various texts including the Christian Bible and Jesus, Greek Mythology, they are not bound by time and space. They can be anywhere and nowhere at once. So, it would make since to me to say that they can also choose who can and can't see them. I mean, dipping into religion and things like this give me the theorist the ability to make up things within reason because the being of a god has indescribable power. This of course fills in the big holes in this theory, all accept one. How in the world did Kira get into contact with a death god? This is what's irritating me, and exciting me at the same time. This gives me the opportunity to get creative, and show exactly how my crazy thoughts make sense.

"Now because of my freedom this entire topic one was harder to answer, didn't really have much to research until I get an idea on where to start looking. Just to name off something I looked into demonic rituals, thinking that possibly Kira used one. The Shinigami would be in his debt, for like releasing his immortal soul or whatever, it's in all video games." Matt would be proud of my reference with lack of evidence, but I mentioned the art and gift that is videogames. "If this was the case, it's safe to assume that Kira is using the Death God, giving them a face and a name to make sure that the right person is killed, assuming that the Death God can see the names of their victims.

"Still, the face alone should be enough. If Frank 'F-R-A-N-K' is to be killed and Kira gave the picture of the man to the Death God with his name spelled on the back as "F-R-A-N-C-K' then hopefully the being is smart enough to figure that this Frank is the one who Kira wants to kill. Then again there could be a whole set of 'You're in the human world now you god-person-thing' rules that are like the law of gravity." I know Kira needs a first and last name to kill, but it was hypothetical and the rules that I have never seen say that it has to model a realistic scenario, not be one.

"The other theory has more holes, less likely than the first. To be completely honest I came up with this one while fighting sleep, like really hard. Let's say Kira is psychic, and he saw the Shinigami. Yeah, I agree with that look your fighting from showing as you're giving me the benefit of the doubt. One, how did he not die from seeing the Shinigami, and two why is the Shinigami working with him? I am not going to explain much more about this theory, the more I think about it, the less likely it is the answer we're looking for." I shook my head and paused letting all I had said sink in, though I was sure it wouldn't take much for L. He nodded his head, telling me to go ahead and continue.

"So then I started thinking about the eyes. It seems to me that these eyes, and the Shinigami are connected in some way shape or form. From what we can tell, the eyes can give the Second Kira the ability to see the name of the victims, but I needed more to make my conclusions. I had Mel tell me about BB again, I still think that talking to him would help. I will respect my promise though. I really don't have to explain much here and honestly I have no real idea where they come from. The way the Second Kira said it implies that they're an acquired skill. This is all the fact I have uncovered from things like this. Now, acquisition of this ability might come from the same ritual that brought the Death God here, assuming that is what really happened, but it could also be something totally different, and why did only Misa get the eyes?"

"You haven't really thought about this as much as the other two theories haven't you?" asked L half smiling at me. I shrugged, I was tired I really didn't want to know what my tired brain would come up with. I yawned and stretched my arms, feeling my shoulder pop. "You're still tired, and you're fort isn't going anywhere. Good night Ebony." I nodded and gave the detective a lop-sided smile before standing up and walking into the room that was prescribed to me. Once my back was to the detective, my smile vanished, that's all he had to say? My stomach knotted up.

Sometimes the scariest response is no response. I was living it, the anxiety of finally letting what I have refrained from sharing things to the person who has been there from day one. I personally don't like to tell people what I think when it's as farfetched as what I had just said. This was a part of my cover at the orphanage. I would get these ideas, but I would never reveal them simply because I might be right and then at first people would think it was luck but the eventually that once incident would prove that I was smart. Even if I would to say I didn't believe myself when I make these theories, so even if I was way off the mark why did it matter? Why was I worried about what L thought of what I had just said? The only thing I could think of was this was my moment of trying to prove to him that I wasn't lagging behind him, that I actually could come to my own conclusions without him gently pushing me toward them. I see the respect Task Force gives me when I explain, but L it's more of a "I'm just going to listen to make sure you don't forget anything" sort of look. Still, I knew his name, that had to amount to something right?

I exhaled loudly as I laid, still fully dressed in my bright red ninja themed t-shirt, sleeves –like all of my shirts – down to my elbows, and jeans, on the cream colored mattress of the hotel room. I rubbed my eyes with my palms. I had a lot of reading to do, and man was I feeling a little down in the dumps. I wonder why. I haven't done anything too out of character. Well I gave up, and I normally commit the entire way, not chickening out half way through. Or maybe it was because my hormone levels were outta wack due to lack of sleep. Maybe a call to Matt tomorrow would brighten my day. That goofball always brings a smile to my face.

I sat up and looked around the dark room. I was exhausted, but I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. The guilt was really starting to sink in a guess. It all amounted to one thing; I gave up. I decided, single handedly, that if we don't move on that nothing would get done, that if we kept on hounding on Light and Misa Kira would get closer to winning then we'd like them to. My gut said that he was Kira, but my head, the logical side of things said that I should take a step back and _not_ fall into his trap, but what choice did we have? This is how I justified my decision. It was the logical decision, people were still dying and I was going to stop it, somehow. So, why did I feel wrong about this entire situation?

I sighed and opened the curtains and sat on the window sill, hugging my knee and let the light of the full moon wash over my face. The air was cool, despite the time of the year well into the summer months. I smiled to myself and just let my thoughts wonder, not surprised that they went to Wammy's house. That was my home, there was those I considered my family. Matt, maybe a little closer after this vacation, don't think that was gosh! I might be a teenager, but I'm more mature than those who worship the happy green plant. That and Roger's a nazi toward teenagers when they start getting interested into people of the opposite sex. Matt was a nice guy, when I came to Wammy's it was him that brought me out of the depression I was under.

Chuckling to myself I leaned my head back and sighed. How much longer was this going to carry on. Sure, I was "living the dream" of every Wammy's kid, but to be honest. The plans I had for my future were about as planned out as a cake exploding at a fancy party. Though that's a bad analogy it sure sounds fun! Think about all of the icing! Back to my point, I had no clue what I was going to do with my life. Detective work, though right now was sort-of fun, wasn't for me. Eventually all of the cases I'd be on would run together once I figure out how criminals think. Then I'd be bored. A part of me didn't want to get hooked onto this way of life, but still, I knew I already was. I closed my eyes and felt my breathing slow. My mind and the plethora of thoughts slowed until they ran into one. That one train of thought eventually turned into nothing as my conscious mind left reality and I fell asleep.

I hate my dreams, I've said this before, but there were also those moments where I actually loved my dreams. Most of the time, my dreams were replayed memories, and sadly enough most of my memories centered around that one life changing event. Ever since then, my time in California was centered around therapy that didn't work. Once I arrived in England, the entire tone of my life had changed. The memories formed were happy, uplifting even. When those memories loop around they were always the pleasant ones, the ones what you promise yourself that you'll never forget but in the end you do because they seem unimportant to you years down the row.

_Rain pelted the window of the windows of the castle like orphanage. It was summer, rain and summer don't mix. I've been branded by that mentality for years, simply because up until I was 11 or 12 I lived in the Southern United States, it's like a sauna, without the steam, in the summer. Sometimes the air is too hot to breathe through your nose. Then your throat gets dry from breathing through your mouth and then by that time the questioning of how in the world the human race can survive in the 100 degree-plus weather sets in. Though, with that being said, I hate staying inside, cabin fever sets in and I get crazy…alright crazier. This is why I pull pranks. Take my word, don't put tabacso sauce on Mello's chocolate, it doesn't end well. Unless you count ending with only a black eye, then go for it! _

"_I'm bored!" I yelled hanging upside down off of Matt's bed, tossing the book I had in my hands to the side and looked at the redhead on the floor mash the buttons as his eyes widen behind his goggles as he mashed the same shoulder button over and over. I watched as a weird helicopter was seen shooting at his character, my lip curling up, I hated this part of the game. I rolled over and watched as Shepard hid behind the breakable crates of Mass Effect 2. "Hiding there isn't doing to help anything. The thingy is just going to shoot it and there goes your cover. Oh, and your shield is about to run out." A piece of hair fell in front of my eyes, and I took my time to try to blow it back in to place. You are my hair to order around. I command thee to conform. _

"_No shit!" growled Matt as his Mass Effect avatar' slightly blue shield was visible for a second before disappearing entirely. It's like I'm psychic I swear. "Dammit!" I saw Matt push the joystick forward and his behind a steel wall and looked over the roof of the building he was just shooting the futuristic battle helicopter thing. "I hate loyalty missions." I turned toward him, I shared this mutual hatred, it's why I never finished the game, yet this was this third time playing it, By my count I've been gone for six months he could've easily played it at least six times within that time. I rolled back over on my back as the gamer stepped back into the line of fire, only to retreat right back to where he was only seconds before._

"_So why do you play the game?" I asked scratching my cheek with my index finger as the bluish shield flashed again. I rolled over onto my stomach and watched him finish the boss battle the pilot crashing. Even though I didn't have the patience to complete the game, the cut scenes were beautiful, much more emotion inspiring at three in the morning with all the lights out when you're supposed to be in bed. The bad thing was, I was now busy at three in the morning and Roger was on to the relationship we had going on, so the door was ajar just for him, at three in the afternoon. "Nice," I said sarcastically dragging the word out. Matt chuckled and brought his knee up to use as an arm rest, looking up at me. He was smiling as I threw my hands out from under me and slung one of them over the head board. I looked at him and answered his raised eyebrow with both of mine. I smiled mischievously, and pounced on impulse._

"_Hey!" Matt said as I pulled his goggles off from his face and put them on the top of my head, hiding most of my face in his blankets. This wasn't the first time this has happened, like most of my impulsive actions it just happened to stifle my boredom. Though, when we were younger I'd not only take them to mess with Matt, but because they were cool! The world was so much more orange-ish when an orange tint was added to it. Matt didn't believe me, though I think that was because he always had them on. I heard him stand up and lay on top of me, fighting to get to his goggles by using his weight to keep me from moving. It was like it was years ago. "You have your own now. I thought you'd leave my goggles alone." _

"_Nu-uh, though my reasons for stealing them have changed," I said through my laughter as I took them off of my head and held them just out of his reach. Instinctively I had my socked foot hovering in mid air, ready to use it as a barrier between the goggles and the gamer. This was a cliché move, and Matt never fell for it. Being the genius he was, he wrapped his fingers around my ankle and straightened out my knee. Leaning forward, he paused and looked at me, his face mere inches from mine, his breath felt on my cheek. _

"_And that is?" he asked raising that blasted eyebrow again. He smiled, already figuring out that the mixture of hormones was clouding my thoughts. Not that my thoughts aren't already clouded because I have a habit of walking through life like it is a mixture of a sit-com and a comedic video game. I was honestly surprised everything didn't look like it was colored in crayon in my mind. I felt heat and blood rushing to my cheeks. His cool dark blue eyes shining as his hair fell forward. Curse being a teenager. Seriously, as a kid I couldn't wait until I was teenager, and now that I am one I wish I was a kid again so I wouldn't have to deal with blushing. Curse you biology!_

"_Uh, well you see," I said pausing to clear my throat and take a deep breath. I needed an excuse, it doesn't matter if it's cheesy, or the cliché phrase a girl would say to the guy she liked. Actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea. Knowing me, Matt was probably expecting me to say something about cheese monkeys losing their underwear, so a typical compliment would probably throw him off. "I can see your eyes better this way. You have pretty eyes Matt." I blinked a few times, yeah I'm the corniest person when it comes to romance, you don't have to tell me. It worked though, Matt lifted his head and looked at me like I was crazy. Not "you need to be in a straight jacket" kind of crazy, but a "Where did _that_ come from?" kind of crazy._

"_Hey Matt…never mind, I'm clearly interrupting something," said Mello standing in the doorway, looking at a small leather bound book that could fit inside a jacket pocket, clearly reading it. His icy blue eyes looked up and smiled, not a cynical "I'm better than you haha!" smirk but a smile that people use to express the gratitude of a plan going as it was supposed to. "Best idea ever." He muttered under his breath as he lifted his head and shook it in pleasure. If I wasn't in this awkward position I would throw…no that wouldn't work. I would throw my shoe, my aim is impeccable, but I have no shoes in this room. I'll throw Matt's shoe, yeah his feet are bigger anyways. _

"_You weren't interrupting anything, yet." I looked back at the gamer and blinked, yet? Hey wait, I wanted Mello to be interrupting something. Stupid blonde, you have the worst timing ever! You had all the time in the world to ponder whatever it is you are pondering. What is that book anyways. Ebony wants to know! "What do ya need?" Mello looked over his shoulder and shook his head and then nodded down to me as I opened my mouth to protest. That wasn't going to stop those words even if he knew they were coming._

"_No, go away!" I yelled with a smile, looking up to see Mello shake his head at me and waved Matt off with two fingers. "Thanks Mel." I yelped as Matt took the opportunity to rip his goggles from my hand. Darn it, distracted again. I turned toward him and stuck my bottom lip in a pout, narrowing my eyes slightly. I heard Mello chuckle as Matt smiled triumphantly, putting the goggles around his neck with one hand. A small smile spread across my face, matching the gamer's he didn't move. _

"_Whatever, I'm only being nice because you're only here for a week," he called from the hallway. "If it was any other time I'd still be in there regardless of what you two were doing." I rolled my eyes sure. I wouldn't deny him coming in if I hadn't left, but after a while he'd get bored and leave, or I'd chase him out. The latter was more likely. What kind of friend would I be if I let my friend become a voyeur? A bad one that's what kind of friend I'd be. Still, he cared for Matt, and was happy, like every good friend, to see his bro happy. I scoffed and turned back to Matt who lowered his head slightly and raised an eyebrow as if saying. "Alright, now what?"_

_I moved my arms to where they were wrapped around his neck. I felt Matt's breath as he put his forehead on mine and used one of his hands to push my chin up, kissing me gently. I returned the kiss, gently pulling him closer. He used the hand he wasn't using to keep from crushing me to cup my cheek. My hands wrapped slightly tighter around his shoulders. I realized then just how much I missed him while I was in Japan. I hadn't really thought about the kiss while I was gone, but now I was reminded that I had liked Matt more than my best friend._

_Matt pulled me up into a seated position, our foreheads pressed together as we enlaced our fingers. My chest was hammering as I turned and laid my head on his chest and stared at the wall, letting him let go of my hand and wrap an arm around my waist. Matt moved my hair from face and laid his cheek on my head, returning our hands into a tangled web thereafter. "So, I guess this means we're a 'thing' now hmm?" he asked quietly, putting his chin on my head. If I had to guess his eyes were closed knowing that I was leaving soon._

"_I guess it does," I responded with a smile. I looked down at out conjoined hands, smiling broadly. _

Wood is unforgiving, especially when you kiss it while falling off of a window sill. The carpet was soft on the bright side, so it wasn't that bad of a landing. Still waking up to a nightstand giving your head a high-five wasn't the best way to wake up. How did I fall? I mean seriously? I groaned as I sat up, worst idea ever, falling asleep on the window sill. I've had plenty of bad ideas, well I wouldn't call them that, they were more-or-less not well thought out, but still this was the least thought out of all of my ideas. I tilted my head to the side as I saw a small red stain, scarlet red, on the carpet. My eye was forced shut as the white hot pain hit me. I sat back as the door opened, someone should've heard that thump, I mean I hit the night stand. The lamp that was on top of it was at my side, having fallen.

"Ebony! Are you alright?" asked Matsuda as I felt him pull me up, my hands clasped on my forehead, where I was bleeding. I felt the warm liquid run down my arm, this wasn't looking too good right about now, and the young detective knew it too. "Come-on let's get that wound cleaned up." I was lead into the bathroom adjacent to my bedroom and sat on the lid of the toilet. My left eyes closed as blood ran down my cheek, this was getting really messy. I was going good too, my klutziness has been well contained for the past two weeks, now it's back with a vengeance.

"Thanks Matsuda," I mumbled as I dropped my hands, giving him room to put a warm washrag on the wound, gently dabbing the blood off. I felt my upper lip turn up, why did hotels only give out white rags? I mean, if they get dirty just wash them with bleach. Blood though was one of those substances that were really hard to get off in a conventional washer. The white rag quickly became red, I wasn't stupid I needed stitches. I put my bloody hand on the rag and jerked my chin to the door. "Go get Watari, I need stitches."

"R-right," Matsuda stuttered as he stood up and jogged to get the resident doctor. At least that was his job at the moment, maybe if I beg I can get some more magical tacos. I looked at my free hand, it was also coated in a nice layer of blood, how much was on the carpet in the other room? Blood, binding rituals with demons required a blood pact, am I sure Kira didn't do this? Humans have enough blood. By my "research" we had about a gallon in us. I'm sure a cup or so could've been spared for a blood pact. Why didn't I think about this before?

My eyes widened as I jumped off of the toilet and lifted the lid, my stomach heaving the tacos from last night out. Those things might've been magical going in, but coming out, it was like a cheap magic show, disgusting. Sweat mixed with blood as everyone, L included, congregated in the doorway of the bathroom. I looked at them with a half smile. "I think this proves, clumsiness is life threatening," I said With a slight chuckle as I tiredly laid my head on my arm, I just woke up not cool.

"Ebony, don't go back to sleep," came L'd voice. I wasn't that tired. But still, I could give him a scare. I closed my eyes and felt my shoulder gently, yet still roughly, shaken. "It's vital that you stay awake alright? Aizawa, could you please prepare another rag?" The afro bearing cop nodded and ran out. I smiled and figured that I could get away with this seeing how I was supposedly on the brink of passing out. I lifted my hand and touched L's hair.

"L, it might not look it, but your hair is soft. And this is the last time I am sleeping on the window sill," I said strongly, breaking my cover with a gentle shake of my head. "I'll just stay awake for the eighth night in a row next time." I felt the warm blood soaked rag replaced and heard Watari walk in. I lifted my head and figured that getting up with my strength might not be the best idea. The old man's gentle hands grabbed my shoulder and helped support me off of the porcelain express.

Against my protests, I was lifted to the counter in the bathroom as Watari looked at the wound, guess who was right about the stitches? "Everyone, I assure you Ebony is in the best care. Please continue with your duties," Watari stated leaving little room for argument. The Japanese men looked at each other before one by one leaving the room. L didn't leave even after the gray haired man said he could, he took my seat on the toilet with his thumbnail in his mouth. This said a lot about the cold character he appeared to be, this proved once more that beyond the emotionless mask there was an actual human being there. I looked at him the best I could out of my right eye. I smiled at him reassuringly, I've gotten stitches before, this was nothing.

The cleaner of the two rags was used to clean out my hair the best it could, my hands, and my face. A bandage was wrapped around my head just above the eyebrow leaving my bangs out of the linen gauze. All thought of what happened yesterday had been forgotten, I wanted to know what he thought. For some reason it mattered to me, I simply didn't know why. Perhaps it was because I was starting to agree with everyone with Wammy's unconsciously and getting the L seal of approval would smash any doubts in my mind into tiny pieces.

"I think you should take another day off," commented Watari after he was done with the stitching. A day off sounded nice and all, but there was still the fort in there waiting for me, not to mention what happens when I'm not mentally stimulated. Knowing me, I'd get even more injured if I took this advice I've always wanted to try bungee jumping. I shook my head slowly as I was helped off of the counter. I had a killer head ache and I really needed something sweet, maybe a piece of strawberry shortcake. Maybe my ninja powers of hiding behind said paper fort would come in handy.

"No, I still have three hundred more files to read, plus however many other people Kira-to-the-third has killed overnight. I might have given up on Light being Kira- against my better judgment- but I'm not going to let this set me back. Mr. Yagami helped even though he had just suffered from a heart attack. Besides, I've had much worse injuries than this," I said stubbornly, pausing as if making sure I didn't forget any crucial argumentum points. Looking up at the beige ceiling I remembered and opened my mouth, only to be cut off by my mentor.

"Ebony, you've had blood loss. I have to side with Watari on this one," inputted L standing up. I crossed my arms and stood my ground, saying that I was used to arguing with Mello, the king of stubbornness. If I could win an argument against him, without using logic whatsoever, I could win any argument. "That may be so, but you are here under my care, you might've also suffered from a concussion, I don't want to overwork you." I smiled as I remembered one point I'd use whenever someone threatened to keep me out of something.

"If I don't work on the case I'll get bored. If I get bored I get destructive. When I get destructive I pull pranks. And when I pull pranks paint gets involved and when paint gets involved someone turns a pretty shade of hot pink. Don't make Matsuda come to work tomorrow hot pink. Everyone will then know where you are L," I said with a shake of my head, my face showing my seriousness. "I also have people that can vouch for me on this."

L and Watari looked at each other the caring gentle man's face looked portrayed the fact that I had a point. The thoughts of my first day at Wammy's of my vacation. I had no doubt in my mind when I had done this that word would've gotten to Japan, mainly because it took hours to prepare. First day there, I walked in and built a wall out of legos, after the structure was perfect, I did my best Godzilla impression and kicked it down. Good times, good times. I kicked my feet as L sighed and walked out, that wasn't a no!

Triumphantly, I marched in after the detective, taking a detour into the kitchen, trying to avoid scratching my gauze covered head , to get some brain food. Can't catch Kira on an empty stomach now can I? I laid on the floor, my legs resting against the couch as I looked at the fort from last night, well I can say one thing L is true to his word, not a folder out of place. I picked up one from the top and started reading, this was going to take forever! And yes, I am exaggerating; I don't need people to tell me this. A piece of paper was taped to the wall, distracting me. I read the page, narrowing my eyes as I deciphered the language as Russian. _Good job Ebony. Keep thinking on these theories, you started this on your own, so it's only fair that you finish them and I will assist you should you need it. L. _I smiled to myself and turned back to the file on my lap.

* * *

**I feel awesome right now! Two chapters were put out this weekend AND I have finished the draft for this story! *clears throat* At 354 pages, 222,353 words (not counting the changes made in this chapter), and 44 chapters and 2 (yes 2) epilogues is the draft of Notes Covered in Ebony. Now I have to edit the rest of it -.- I know that I'm adding at least 1 chapter, maybe more depends on how I feel as I'm editing it. **

**So now I have some "bad" news. I am going to be busy for like a while with life. So after Thanksgiving (November 22nd) until probably the New Year I won't be seen period, accept for my Deviant Art page simply because I don't need to be at a computer to draw, just to upload something and that takes a few minutes and now 6 hours. I get distracted easily by youtube and other magical things on the internet. **

**Thanks for reading, alerting, favoriteing, and reviewing. I'm sorry for my hiatus, life happens so you just have to react to it. I will try to keep you guys posted the best I can though. I will respond to reviews via PM if that is an option available. **

**To Memory25: **_I think I didn't touch this in the PM, but the way I have it set up in my mind, is that Ebony has completely let-go of the case as it stands, she's not helping L and L isn't helping her. It's like there's two investigations going on at once because Panda-eyes won't let it go._

**To Prince of Oriel:**_ That's a cheap move, I mean I have a Facebook and all, but the last thing I put up there is my fail with my MP3. My pocket turned down my volume and I thought it was broken….not my shining moment. Breaking off a relationship is something you do face-to-face, even if you are of female origin. _

_I know, it wasn't intended, but when it comes to the case she gets serious, like how she was during the chess game in that one chapter, I really forgot where it is. Bad writer bad! She normally masks it because that's just who she is. Like when she insults Light….I am starting to miss that, it was fun to write. Oh well, it's about to pop up again soon. _


	21. A Very Ebony Christmas

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or anything other copyrighted material referenced.**

**So, this has absolutely NOTHING to do with Ebony's story, I'm not going to reference it at all. This also doesn't reference the main story at all either, for instance L and Ebony haven't met. I thought about making them a year younger, but then I couldn't put any MattxEbony fluff and I wanted to do that. Making them younger would've just made it awkward for me. **

**Christmas Special: A Very Ebony Christmas**

I blew a piece of ebony black hair out of my eyes as I leaned against the window, turning my head so I can look completely disinterested as more and more of my fellow genius orphans filtered into the room. Sunlight broke through the clouds, patches of dead grass looking slightly more alive in the frigid winter air. There is a freaking song dedicated to a White Christmas, isn't one too much to ask for? Eh, probably Mother Nature be trollin', like always.

"Order in the Playroom! All rise for the Honorable Master of Pranks, Ebony!" Matt announced snapping me out of my train of thought, my head turning toward the front of the room. My face got smacked by the fuzzy ball of my Santa hat. My eyes widening as I remembered what exactly was happening. I remember what day it is, but not the tradition I set up, for shame. Though only a few people would pick up on my subtle facial changes, but those who could weren't the kind of people who would let this kind of thing go. I stood up and stretched, it's too cold to live here sometimes. To my surprise, everyone rose as I took my place at the Lego podium of awesomeness and put my beat up composition notebook on the surface, the cover "Not a prank plan book" shown to the wall.

I cleared my throat and overlooked the eager eyes of my people up in Wammy's house, time for Ebony in her red turtleneck to shine. I pulled at the sleeves, having them lay around my elbows, how people keep sleeves all the way to their wrists is beyond me, personally I find it uncomfortable and itchy. I cleared my throat loudly and opened the book casually. I flipped through the pages, seeing how long the silence of the room was going to last. "We have gathered from the far reaches of the orphanage and not one fight has broken out in the past five minutes, that's a record just saying," I started after I finally got to the prank in my book with a clear fake royal English accent making wide gestures like I was running a world peace meeting and not what this actually was, a plot of Christmas Cheer. Codename Christmas Cheer Code L, yeah it needed work I know.

"Shut-up and get to the goddamn point, you know we only have an hour before Roger notices that we've all congregated here," Mello growled followed by a snap of his chocolate. He sat crossed legged on the floor, like everyone else in the room, head resting one his knuckles. His elbow was resting against this leg, looking completely out of style of the room. While everyone was wearing Christmas clothes, Matt had a reindeer on his normal black-and-white shirt, looked freaking adorable, he was still in his black sweater and sweat pants. I frowned at him slightly, well if he's going to be that way, I have no choice but to make fun of him. It's the Rules of Wammy Kid Society, nobody goes against those rules, bad things happen. I don't know what exactly, I just know.

"Well Bah-humbug! Alright, here's the plan for the tradition Wammy's House Christmas Ba-Blam," I explained, nodding toward Matt as I pulled the goggles around my neck to rest on my head, pulling the hat off to position them. I readjusted the hat while the wall behind me lit up with the copy of the plan, measurements included for once. Man did the pencil sketch look so messy, I could hardly tell my tree from my garland. "We have all established that L listens to our Christmas festivities through Watari's laptop, if you didn't know….why are you still here?" A rumble of laughter spread through the room, even little Tulip a three year old who has been there for a week knew this is what L did. "So, this time instead of Mello walking around yelling 'I wonder how L is celebrating Christmas. Ha-ha I'm Mello and I'm stupid' Alright, maybe he doesn't say the last sentence, but in my head he does. Anyways, I figure we make a L banner." I picked up a laser pen and pointed behind me, right at the banner. Yes, my voice did dip down in a fake Mello voice, earning me a deeper scowl. I responded to the blonde by smiling innocently. I call him my best friend and he can't stand my presence, how nice is that?

"As usual we need the littlest kids to have the most important part, distract the warden. I can't tell you how less awesome this would be every year without Roger being conveniently occupied by like ten different kids with ten absurd needs. He gets mad and overwhelmed at the same time, and we should all know by now when he gets that what, whatever antic I am doing automatically becomes less 'bad.' Then we need a group of people to sew this banner, I have the 'L' outlined, we just need it blacked out." I pulled out a white banner and handed it to Linda, the resident artist who stood up to take it. "After that we need people who are light on their feet and not afraid of heights, techie nerds, and as always people who are good at getting things.

"The overview of how this will all look in the end is going to be beautiful, cascading snow and streamers, but before that happens it's going to look like a prank gone wrong, everything is going to fall, and we grade A acting here look like Christmas had just been ruined. Tears are acceptable, in fact they are encouraged. I don't want anyone killing someone else. We don't need a murder to go along with this crazy orphanage, we already have someone from here that moved on to become a criminal, lets not make another alright? After those things we need to build the snow castle will fall inches behind us, Near, Mel, I need you two to double check my concept of physics on this, it will end looking really pretty as the cannons fire and the snow falls. Any questions?"

"Who gets the talkies?" asked Wires, next to Matt that guy knows the most about computers. I'll be the first to admit that watching their geek talk is pretty interesting, once I know what they mean using their jargon. Though that normally takes me a while, and a gesture from the gamer toward what doo-dad they are actually talking about. Stepping forward Matt lifted his shirt, revealing only his belt laying claim to the techie talkie. I always had one seeing how I was in charge, but I was also putting everything together. Near was in charge of aesthetics mainly because he plays with the toys more than anyone else in the orphanage, Mel in charge of getting stuff, Linda was the sewing team, and this year I was giving the kid talkie to Tulip, why not, she had already started following me around in anticipation.

"Any other questions before we break up into teams? Banner people, as always we like you guys to be finished first so we can hang it up and start covering it up in madness. I understand you have a second banner to work with, look at what we have planned, it's going to take a while to get both trees up with the garland hanging in the right spot. Besides I want to make sure my math is right before we get too into it especially with the net. Lay the net down first and organize the ornaments, just don't drill in any hooks until Scrooge and Kid give the OK, alright?" The room was silent as I clapped my hands once. "Break!" The screen flashed, centering around the center end result. I handed Mel my plan book so he knew what we needed and started sorting through the kids.

According to the plan, what looked like a normal Christmas den, a single tree, small toys scattered everywhere, really boring in simple terms for a Wammy's house Christmas, was going to fall apart, completely and utterly. I thought about setting the tree on fire, but it's plastic and Roger would freak. Not only that, but burnt plastic stinks, like worse than crap on the floor stink. After that, two mostly bare trees, come in and are then decorated with planes. An army of builders use blocks to build a castle, while snow and confetti cannons go off. Garland is also going to be used to decorate the ceiling. The room is going to be totally covered in Christmas, Mello won't need three ghosts to turn him into a wannabe Santa. Though when that guy is actually happy, he's really quiet and smile gets kind of creepy after a while. There is a reason why he smirks.

"Joker, let's go get some ladders, we're going to need to see if the planes can carry the stars, and if they can't see if Matt's team can organize the copters to reach the trees, Also, we have too many lights. The white lights are going to have to be put on beforehand, maybe some colored ones too. Ah heck let's just hang them all so we won't have to worry about planes tangling the cords. There are already little elves tangling earbuds, we don't need RC ones with Christmas lights," I said buckling my tool belt onto my waist, attractive I know, especially in Christmas clothes. The tall brunette looked over his shoulder and nodded as he straightened his back from carrying on one of the three trees we needed. I hooked my thumbs in the belt loops of my jeans as the poker champion of the house, and I walked out. A few ladders laid in the middle of the hallway, about 6 if I had to put a number on it. I didn't haul them inside, and I wasn't putting them back, I had other things on my mind, like which pocket did I put my apple in.

"Here let me help –nevermind," Joker started to offer as I picked up the ladder easily. Someone forgets I do this for a living because this orphanage bores me to no end. I smiled and walked inside, asking if he wanted the left or the right. "Uh, It doesn't matter, the right." I nodded and walked in, ladder hoisted on my shoulder, crossing the room, smiling to myself at the sight of Mello and the pj wearing genius working together. It's a Christmas Miracle brought on by me. Well maybe not, I do this every year. I am determined to get the blonde to at least tolerate the white haired kiddo, call it a gut feeling but I think that eventually they will work together. I'm not hoping for a group hug or anything, just mutual toleration.

"No, you carry a 3 not a 2," Mello barked scribbling down a few numbers and showing Near who twirled his white hair around his finger before writing down his own formula. I kicked the ladder in position and looked up, crossing my arms as I decided it was in the right spot. I never said their work would be peaceful now did I? To be honest I'm surprised Mello hasn't stormed off yet, he normally does. Maybe this has something to do with the guy's idol being the center of this "prank."

"We were both right, you just went the more time consuming way of calculating the solution. I figured using this formula would be more beneficial seeing how Ebony wants the conformation as soon as it's available. The math is correct though," Near said as he stood up and shuffled toward the team I assembled for him. I sighed and pulled the goggles Matt gave me down over my eyes, removing my Santa hat to fix my hair. I then replaced it, it couldn't be accurately called a Christmas prank unless someone was wearing a Santa hat. Call me Ebony Claus!

"Here," grumbled the chocoholic of the house as he handed me the sheet with all of their math, proving my math was right. My prank book was under it, signaling he didn't need it anymore. He started grumbling under his breath, something about how Near was making him mad, and how he was going to go down during the next exam. Sighing I shook my head and hugged him quickly and unexpectedly. The blonde furrowed his brow and looked at me with the "what the hell was that for?" expression. I merely smiled started to get back to work, like nothing had happened. Waiting for a minute, forming my explanation and waiting to see if he was going to leave, he didn't.

"Thanks Mel. Before you ask why I dared to touch you, it's Christmas. And yes, that is my answer for everything today," I said as I gathered my box of Garland and lights, planning on putting the box at the top of the ladder before starting on the tree. "Yo Spaz, mind helping with the tree?" There was a confirmation below me as I set the box as the top of the ladder. "Grab a box cutter from Mel." As I climbed down from the ladder, I held out my hand as the kid with black spiky hair and frosted blue tips tossed me my own box cutter. We hid these, Roger didn't know we had them, there were some loose bricks in the fire place, it's cliché sure, but we needed a hiding place. I would've preferred a secret passageway, but there are none in Wammy's trust me, I've looked.

I knelt down and cut the box, smiling as the smell of artificial pine filled my nostrils. Car air fresheners aren't just for cars anymore kiddies. The plastic tree was then thrown out of the box and handed to Spaz who, contrary to his name, swiftly and precisely cut the rest of the plastic ties on the fake tree. I started assembling the stand, pieces of plastic flying around the room. Casually ducking under the debris, I pulled a candy cane from my tool belt and unwrapped it. I stuck the hooked part in my mouth, smiling as the peppermint spread across my tongue, making my mouth feel more like the holidays as the mintyness made my breath feel cold.

"Oh you better watch out, better not pout, better not cry I'm telling you why," Matt started followed by everyone in the room following with the next line in the song, everyone singing in their own key and pitch. It was murder on the ears, but hey it's Christmas and we're not killing each other, seriously the pride of genius orphans is massive. We fight about the dumbest things, like whose parents died the most gruesome way. There is always the troll "Oh yea, well I never knew my parents." They win. I smiled and sat on top of the ladder, pulling a strand of lights from the box and wrapped them loosely around the top of the tree, holding the strand in place as I dropped it for Spaz to continue wrapping.

"Hear that Mello, stop pouting, and don't smirk either, it freaks us all out, man," said Psycho, no she really wasn't psycho, she just chose that name because it freaked people out. Needless to say, she has fun with her name and acts like a mad genius around the newbies, it scares them .We hung out from time to time, but overall we were pretty distant. She was one of those who if someone ranked above her in the tests, she'd act casual around them, like they were equals. If someone was below her, she acted like they were dumber than dirt, and trust me, it took a lot to prove to her that us down-listers were actually worth her time. The room broke out laughing as Mello did the exact opposite of the order and pouted.

"Aww come-on Psy we all know Mellodramatic only has two expressions, mad, and evil," I said from the ladder adding more laughter into the room. "Though he did genuinely smile once, I was stuck in a dirt hole last winter, almost passed out due to hyperthermia. Might not be fun for me, but he got quite the kick out of my pain." I shrugged and continued to dig through the Christmas decoration box, seeing what other goodies I had in there. "Oh bubble wrap!" I pulled the sheet out and started popping the bubbles.

"Really Eb, bubble wrap?" Matt called from the floor. I shrugged and looked at the sheet for a moment before turning toward the tech genius and nodded as I rolled up the sheet and wrung it like a rag, like twenty bubbles popping at once. Laughing insanely for a minute, I widened my eyes like I was really insane, earning more laughter. I heard the red head sigh as I returned the sheet into the box, and pulled out some ribbons to hang from the ceiling.

"He's making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out whose naughty and nice," said Mello monotonously to everyone's surprise. His voice sounded like a freaking zombie, like one who could talk. What I'm getting at, when I said monotonously, I mean he made a carol sound like a funeral song. The entire room stopped dead and looked at the blonde all eyes widened. After a pause Mello looked up from the table that held the paper snowflakes we were going to hang from the ceiling, and scanned the room, smirking slightly when he found out that he managed to halt production. Sadly, there was nothing I could say to break the silence before he started talking. "What? It was either I chime in or have Ebony comment about how much of a Scrooge I am during Christmas." Still silence filled the room. For once, The Great Ebony had no smart comment to make, nothing, nada. "Just sing the next line, my god people." A smile spread across my face as I threw a strand of fake gold garland at the blonde, the entire room using that as a sign to continue with the off-key song as Mello glared at me.

"Mello, Ebony has already implied that you are similar to Charles Dickens's Ebenezer Scrooge, she pointed this out at the beginning of the meeting," Near pointed out twirling hair around his finger after the laughter died down. A hum of "Ooo's" filled the room. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the tree, wrapping a strand of colored lights around the tree, aiming, and letting them fall on Spaz's head. He snapped back to reality. We might be geniuses but we were still just as immature as any other kid in any other orphanage, this right here proves it.

"Don't pay them any mind, Mel's going to insult Near and then Near will either say nothing, or insult Mel without really insulting him. They'll probably go back and forth like that for a while and then I'll have to use my 'talents' to distract Mello before he tackles the smaller kid. It happens all the time during class," I explained with a shrug, as I continued adjusting the lights. "The good thing is, I'm already set up for how I'm going to break up the supposed 'fight.'" I turned my head toward him and smirked, my hair covering most of my right eye.

The kid below scoffed as the first part of my "prediction" came true, the two of them started their emotional versus monotonic "debate." I looked down at the sound of my name being called and sat on the ladder, draping my arms over the top and kicked my feet, noticing the thoughtful look in Spaz's eye. "You organize this every year, and it always goes without flaw. Half of us easily can't do this, how do you to this?" I tilted my head to the side. I then smiled evilly and stood back up on the ladder. Every year this gets asks once, and every year I give a different answer, but the kind of answer was the same. I never answered the question, simply supplied another distraction, everyone had rights to secrets did the not?

"He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake!" I continued yelling through the noise of the room stopping all the cheers for Mello to pounce on Near, knowing what comments were going to be spread around simply because everyone in the room was 10 or older, making fun of Santa was second nature at this point. Still, it was that or answer the question, and a good prankster never reveals what is up her sleeve. I looked down at Spaz who looked slightly insulted I just chuckled as the comments started coming.

"So Santa's a Stalker?" Matt chimed, as I stood up, to hang more garland on the ceiling, or at least one end of it so the copters that were being outfitted with cameras would only have half the work to do. The AV team was going to need some helping hands to I didn't want to make this too technical. Personally, I knew how to pilot a small plane, but I was clueless to the kind of things we'll be doing today. I could just figure it out like a boss and pat myself on the back after we're done cleaning this all up, that's going to take an hour, especially when watching the buckets of snow being made, at least 20 so far.

"I knew it! Everyone hide yo kids, and hide yo wife and hide yo husband 'cause he's giving presents to errbody out there," Joker followed up as he finished with the strand of lights, dropping them to the floor from his ladder so his partner could plug them in. Everyone laughed at the old internet meme, this was one of the few occasions where we all got along, and I started this tradition, was I proud? Yup, and Roger appreciated it too, the looks of pride that spread across everyone's faces when everything clicks together. Though I was under some pressure too, I had a perfect record and I intended to keep said record. Still the laughter and sense of brotherhood here always managed to warm my heart.

"Ebony, Roger's heading toward the playroom," came a panicked voice over the talkie, right on cue. The fake danger was a part of the game. If we didn't compensate, the old man would turn away at the last second, but distracting the old man was too good to pass up. Messing with Roger during Christmas was a tradition that exceeded my time here at Wammy's, I just made it more interesting. Though, I couldn't help but to wonder who the mastermind behind this tradition was. I think I remember reading about it somewhere, Beyond's journal, perhaps it was A before the whole suicide thing.

"Copy that, we're setting up a distraction as we speak," I said calmly into the talkie, putting it down on the ladder and taking an extra roll of paper streamers and climbed down the ladder, finding Spike a muscular 13 year old blonde kid. Personally I thought he was German, but talking about the past is a no-no. Personally I had to qualms about it, I was one of the few that actually answered question should someone ask me. Sure, I was still vague, but most people here if they couldn't tell from my accent knew I was American, my slang-filled Spanish was a side effect of growing up in the bad part of town in Las Angeles. With the right amount of research anyone could figure it out. I just leave things as they were, if I managed to find the ethnicity of everyone here, there goes my reputation.

The kid ran up and smirked as handed the streamers to him. He looked down at them and frowned slightly in confusion. "Alright pal, Roger's on his way here and even though we all know he's not going to peep, it still freaks the little one's out. Now, run and make a mess!" I pushed him toward the door and turned around, taking in the progress made, looking at my watch. We needed those banners soon. I'm always paranoid about those things because of they are the center piece. Sure we can reconstruct them with Legos, but the banner looked nicer, added class to destruction.

"Yo Eb, come check this out," Matt said standing up, pulling my hand toward his station, my hands finding the goggles around my eyes and pulling them down. I followed and paused at all of the computers, unsure at which one I should be looking at. There were cameras all over the halls, a second defense from peeping eyes, another two screens were dedicated to games. He really didn't think he could do all of this right? I did smile at the screen with the Sims up, there was another reserved for the confetti cannons, and then my eyes were drawn to the screen showing cameras of the toy helicopters, slowly each part of the screen snapped to life. I frowned and looked at the red head, raising both my eyebrows in question.

"So, computer screens…they glow," I said spinning in the chair, trying to figure out what is it Matt needed me to check out. I knew he was up to something, the more I spun, the wider his smile got, and to top it off he wasn't looking at me, he was looking above me. Now, I know girls complain when a guy's eyes are too low, but his eyes being too high? "Yo Matt, my eyes are down here." Yeah, it didn't have the same ring to it. He cleared his throat and I stopped spinning and he pointed up. Furrowing my brow in confusion I looked up, my eyes widening, there was a tiny green plant. No, not the happy green plant that is constantly smuggled into the US and is available for coffee house purchase in Amsterdam, but it was a Christmas plant.

I reached up and tapped the green leaves, smirking as it swung. A silver gleam stood out to me, solving the mystery of the floating plant. Fishing line, nice choice, it was almost invisible to the naked eye, and it was really hard to break. My hands will vouch for that, I had a small scar wrapping around my right palm when I tried to break it by hand. Yeah, it didn't work well for me did it? Either way me and fishing line was almost as good friends as I pretended Mello and I were, I used it all the time. "It's a mistletoe," Matt mumbled his hair covering his eyes, me not noticing that he had pulled his goggles around his neck. I blinked and studied him for a minute before returning my thoughtful gaze to the plant, tapping it again. He had a slight pink hue to his cheeks. I never thought Matt would be a person to blush.

"Really? I thought it was a red air plane. Please Matt, tell me more of this thing called 'mistletoe' I am vastly interested," I replied sarcasm dripping from my voice. This was elaborate, well not really it was just a small pulley system, but Matt was lazy and only really played video games. In short, this plot was unexpected and for him, and complicated. Honestly, if he was going to pull something like this I'd expect him to use a plane, not pulleys and line. I continued to stare at it though, blinking like I was an idiot. So, letting him watch me plot how I was going to prank Roger all these years had rubbed off on him.

"Well," the gamer started with a smirk on his face, crossing his arms. He then closed his eyes and held a single finger in the air like he was an older sibling explaining something trivial to a little kid. Hey wait a minute; I am the older one here! For a kid 11 months is a large margin, I should be the one lecturing no fair! "A mistletoe is a plant that is typically used by a guy who wants a kiss from a certain girl, or the other way around. Just put an unsuspecting person under the plant, and when they step under reward them with a kiss. Simple enough?" His tone wasn't condescending, like mine it was sarcastic. Sure it wasn't dripping in sarcasm like my response, it still made me smile. I tapped my chin and noted how there was a literal wall of computer monitors.

My eyes focused on one of the monitors, Watari was here. He was early, normally he doesn't get here until noon –at least. Looking at the other sections on the screen for the other cameras we had in the halls, I bit the inside of my lip as the banners were on their way too, which was good news letting go of the fact that at the rate the two of them were going, they were going to collide with each other. Sitting up straight, I reached for my talkie, realizing I left it on the ladder. Really? Of all the dumb mistakes I was going to make today something that essential was left on the –wait a minute Matt has a talkie.

"I need to borrow this, I'll pay the mistletoe dept later, promise," I said hurriedly, holding out my pinky with my right hand, the talkie in my left hand. Matt's eyes flashed toward the screen as I pressed the button. "Linda, I need you to detour, our namesake is in the house and, well the laptop is tucked under his arm. Roger is near the mess hall, so don't worry too much about him. I'll see if Tulip can tell our streamer distraction to keep him in that area," I said calmly, smiling as Matt wrapped his pinky around mine. I nodded curtly as I stood up, handing Matt his talkie back. Time to be the leader I was deep down, it was the only day it showed that I was made to be here.

"Alright Watari is in the house, we need at least two people, plus Mel to go greet him obnoxiously. Mel, if anyone spills what we're doing, I will personally help in the revenge. This means I get the girly permanent paint out. Who wants to wake up in floral print?" I announced holding my arms out in a "come-at-me-bro" gesture. There were a few snickers, the older kids remembering what happened to Joker when he challenged me, he woke up the next day pink with a daisy field scattered throughout. He looked very pretty. Nobody answered my challenge, but people did get up to meet with the request toward Watari. I waved them off, saluting a few of them as the blonde relayed the message to Tulip.

"We got it!" yelled Linda running in breathless, holding two rolls of fabric over her head. Fist pumping I ran over and hugged the little girl and pulled her arm toward the trees that were still mostly bare, ornaments laying scattered all over the floor. Alright, they weren't "scattered" per-say it was more like a mine field that was completely symmetrical. Under the mine field was a net that after the hooks were screwed into the ceiling would be hung up. How we were going to pull that off was beyond me, I was just happy we had some non-breakable ornaments. That would be one heck of a Christmas, go down in the books as the "Glassy Christmas," or the "Shardy Christmas." I scratched my head, half of the people here were going to be needed to hang up the net. Another headache, I didn't really think out that detail, there is always one detail I always forget.

"Yo AV guys, how many planes do you guys have ready? We're almost done laying out the tinsel and colored lights for the RC copters and stuff," I called as folded my ladder up and went to move it to the center. I hugged the heavy metal structure against my body. "Joke, move the ladder for Linda, and Matt, you yell at us on where to put these things." My head was angled up as I worked on positioning the ladder to be under a tiny clear hook.

"Alright!" Matt cheered as he simply kicked against his desk and leaned back in the chair, using his hands to support his head. "This is easier than my main job." Oh no he didn't, I literally gave him the easiest job. Every year he was making sure that everything electronically didn't blow up, or malfunction. He could play games and do this. It was easy. Sure I could never do it because the longest I've actually sat still was never unless I was napping, but you can hardly count that as sitting. He had to pay for his ignorance, actually I just wanted to see him being hit with something, but I should have a "grown-up" reason for my order. Pausing my assent on the ladder, I turned toward Spaz who was making the fake snow. I smirked, too easy, but hey, I can get away with it.

"Hey Spaz do me a favor why don't ya, and make a snowball, aiming for the bright red target that's Matt's head please?" I asked quietly pointing toward the box, trying –unsuccessfully –to hide my smirk that suggested the truth, I was up to no good. Then again, I'm never up to good. I am forever cursed to be a prankster. Oh well, someone has to live with this curse. I will do it, for the children. That makes everything sound better. "Hey I'm killing this murderer, for the children." The kid winked at me and jerked his head up. I nodded getting the message and continued climbing, taking the steps two at a time, standing just below the step with the warning "don't stand here" sticker, giving me the perfect view. This was going to be so awesome! I almost jumped up the steps of the ladder, and that's gutsy even for me. Not only would I fall, but I'd leave a dent in the ceiling given my height on the ladder.

I lifted my head, looking at the hooks that were installed the first year we had done this. The main banner was always the same size and in the same spot. Reaching up, my finger curved so it would latch onto the small hook, I tugged at it, testing the strength like I did every year. Linda tested the other hook and we both nodded. Eventually I knew we were going to have to move these, and that's easily going to get us back a good thirty minutes so we can line everything up. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

"What the hell?" I heard Mat call, causing me to break out in laughter. "What did I do? Damn, that stuff might be fake but it still is fucking cold!" Matt continued to complain, rubbing his arms to promote heat through friction. I watched him for a minute, trying my hardest to hold in my laughter, Mission Failed. Bending over the top of the ladder, lowering the banner in my hands my laughter got louder, tears building up in my eyes. Golden! It was freaking golden! He then paused and looked up at me, coming to a realization. I waved innocently and then turned to Linda, lifting the festive green and red banner to the hooks. "You owe me!"

"I know, but now we know that the snow works! Though it looks like my plan to use the magic of snow failed, I wanted to knock the lazy outta you, hmm maybe I should try pixie dust. Does anyone know where I could find some pixie dust?" Linda laughed as we slowly let go of the pole of the banner, letting it hang by itself. We told the little kids that there was a magical purple bush hiding in the area around the orphanage. That bush supposedly held fairies, I even went as far as to take my spray paint and find a bush to turn purple, nobody has looked for it, though it probably wasn't purple anymore, stupid rain. I was positive that most of them didn't buy our act, Near never did for example. Though, the kid was a special case, he was always different, secluded in a way. Much like me when I first showed up, I wasn't trying to turn him into another me. Just, I wanted him to be out of his shell, it's not healthy, everyone needs one friend.

"We have some glitter in the other room maybe that could help," Linda suggested laughing with the rest of the room. Thinking about it for a while, letting the thought of using glitter, which could be hazardous to the eyes, sink in. I announced that the glitter would work, the gamer had goggles he was hopefully smart enough to put them on when I attacked him. Though, this is something I'd do to Mello in false hopes of getting him to laugh. Yeah, it makes him mad, but he always comes up with a revenge plot and he smiles then. The character of the smile is downright creepy, but it's a smile.

"Ebony, Watari's trying to get to the room. I don't know how much longer we can stall. We've already enlisted the help of the brats," came Mello's voice slightly panicked. I sighed and bowed my head, it's the one thing I hoped wouldn't happen. I leaned against the side of the ladder, trying to think of a plan C, seeing how Mel already enlisted plan B. There was a loud crash, the floor vibrating. A chair left spinning as a knight went to comfort the princess laying on the floor of the playroom. Yeah, I fell off the ladder. I know I'm a klutz it's one of the many things that makes me awesome. My reason for almost dying by the hands of gravity? Mello never asks for help, end of story.

"Alright guys Code W, get tape where we have the two big trees, hang up that banner and the net. Sorry, your gonna have to hang the net alone. Get those freaking RC planes online, and put up the fake den. I have a Watari to stall," I ordered as I stood up with Matt's help and retrieved my talkie. "Near and Matt are in charge unless Matt follows me. In that case it's Shine and Near." A hand wrapped around mine as we met eyes and nodded.

Matt, moving the fastest he has all year, and I stalked the shadows through the halls toward the foyer a plan forming in my head. I had most of a plan, there were some consequences that were going to have to be paid, but it was all for the winter wonderland we were building. The gamer wasn't going to be happy with it, but Mello was once he chases us down might actually tolerate my presence more than he usually did. Given how that blonde pretty much hates me, that give a big hint as to what my plan was. Oh well, it was going to be epic any ways. I mean, it came from my brilliantly hidden genius. I might get into trouble, but hey it was going to be worth it, assuming I don't get busted on the spot. That would be bad, no it'd be catastrophic!

Stopping in the shadow of a hallway, I leaned forward and saw the target – I mean Watari – in the hall casually turning the corner, he was being distracted by a frantic Mello. Looking back on it, I have never seen Mello frantic about anything. This is something for the memory books. Turning toward Matt, I did the cliché hand signal gag. I pointed toward the older man and pounded my fist into my hand, then I picked up my invisible dress and twirled in a circle finishing off with a slit to the throat while pointing to my elbow. The gamer sighed and shook his head at me, running a hand through his hair.

"So we're getting the laptop and running for our lives?" He asked unfazed by me and my antics. Man he knows me so well, I was sure this would've gotten him thinking for a while. I nodded and saw Mello's reinforcements running up to distract the grey-haired person. The two of us stepped backwards, our steps light and silent. "Alright what about Mel? If we let him in whatever you plan on doing with L won't be happening." I smirked and pulled the ultimate tool from my tool belt. It is said this legendary tool will fix anything, and if it can't it's forever broken. That tool was, Duct Tape.

"We use this, duh," I whispered giving him the silver roll. "Just put it over his mouth, maybe tape his hands together and I can ask my one question for the guy." Pushing my hair behind my ears I watched the blonde stumble on his words, this was going to be fun. I pulled down on my Santa hat, can't have my festiveness fly off now can we? Talk about an anticlimactic end to Ebony Claus. "Alright, just follow my lead, and I mean to the 'T.' If I explode after jumping off a cliff Wile Coyote style I expect you to follow." The gamer just looked at me and shook his head telling me to just carry out my crazy plan. Crazy it was, the more I thought about it, the colder my feet got.

I nodded and took a deep breath, oh the trouble I was going to get into, or could get into. Watari was always the kinder person, if we conducted mischief when he was around, he'd sit us down and talk calmly to us. It was a lot more effective than to chain us to a bed by the ankle so we don't escape. Alright, I'm the only one who got that punishment, but still. Everyone was happier when the older man came to visit twice a year at least. Back to reality, should I get in trouble, it was going to be worth it in my opinion. I took one step before running through the hallway with a war cry that probably would've made more of an impact if Matt had done it, but he was casually walking behind me. Kill joy. Watari did jump, so I guess my female war cry gets some points.

"Thanks Watari I'll give him back don't worry!" I yelled as I grabbed the white Mac and continued running to the only room I knew nobody would try to open even if they had a key. If you said any other room but the bathroom, you're wrong. Really, that place is a sanctuary, and a really thought stimulating place too. What, some of my best prank ideas came to me while I was having some well deserved Ebony time. Sliding in on my socks, and almost falling face first on the floor, I closed the door and putting my full weight against it, hugging the stolen laptop to my chest. My breath was labored, since when was I this out of shape? Huh, I was going to have to change that by pestering Mello. I was going to be on so much trouble. Goodbye sun, it was nice knowing you. I won't be able to see you until Spring maybe.

Deciding it was safe, well safe enough, I put the computer on the counter of the bathroom and lifted the lid, pressing the power button before staring at the screen intently, waiting for it to jolt to life. My breath, the one I was unconsciously holding, came out in a rush as I pulled my hat off and ran my hand though my hair in thought. I was going to be talking to L, fulfilling the dreams of almost everyone here, mad talk about public enemy number one. I put my hat back on and smirked, like I cared what people thought. Was I shocked I had done this? Not really, I mean I've done crazier things, but a part of me was putting the blame of this plan on falling off the ladder. That wasn't that much fun. Still, saying I had a recent injury could lessen my punishment. Watari though, he had smiled when I took the laptop, what did that mean?

Jumping at the knock at the door, I turned my head and granted entry to the two guys recognizing the secret knock. My shoulders relaxed, the screen behind me lighting up the dim off white colored room, casting my shadow on the wall in front of me. The door was thrown open as Mello ran in and pushed me aside from the laptop and then his shoulders slumped when he saw a desktop and not a white screen with a L smiling at him. His hands then clenched, anger taking over. I took a step back, my shoulders even with Matt. This was real anger, not the weak annoyed Mello I love to pester. This is how he is just after seeing Near beating him again, I knew better that to mess with him. Shrugging at Matt he returned it and took the two steps needed to put a hand on his friend's shoulder. The blond snapped his head toward him, slightly relaxing at the sight of the red head.

"I'm sorry man," he said quietly as I stepped in front of the laptop and tapped my chin. I haven't seen Watari open anything before. Why was this taking a while, unless Watari was truly ahead of schedule, then L isn't expecting for the laptop to be on at this moment. In that case, L would know that it isn't Watari with the laptop. That means, the detective probably won't connect to the laptop. That means we'll have to call off the entire celebration, and I won't do that. I'll video tape the thing and give it to the old man to give to L if I have too. Though, L doesn't have anything to fear, he knows Watari is at Wammy's and that the only thieves who could get a hold of this are genius ones. Huh, a thief, didn't know I had stooped so low. How disappointing.

"Holy cheese waffles!" I yelled when a beep rang through the bathroom echoing. I tuned toward the laptop and smiled, L finally established a connection, booya! I would take this time to do my infamous happy dance, but that would look silly in front of L. I have some dignity thank you very much. I turned toward the guys and chuckled weakly. "Hey guys look, it's L." I turned toward them and they both looked at me confused. I turned my head to the side matching their expressions as they looked at each other."What? And I know nothing is on my face this time, I looked in the mirror so I know I'm clean."

"We really need to teach you how to cuss 'cheese waffles' isn't going to cut it," Mello said breaking the awkward silence. All thoughts stopped right there, my jaw dropping in shock. He just went there! I can't believe it, he called out my pure tongue and made it seem like a bad thing! I'm so proud, he's managed to insult something that I personally thought he'd never find a way of insulting. I closed my mouth, straightened my back, and shrugged turning to the laptop and cheerfully greeted the detective, purposefully not introducing myself. I was sure my cheese waffle statement was a giveaway, but I wanted to see how long he'd take to answer with my name. I then found it appropriate to give Mel my two cents on why I don't curse, in my own fashion of course, meaning in the way nobody and their dead mom expects.

"Maybe I don't want to stoop down to your vulgar language," I said turning toward the two of them putting my sophisticated voice, holding my arms behind my back. "So L, Merry Christmas! Sorry we haven't said it before, but later is better than never amiright?" I smiled as I started pressing the talk button on the talkie in morse code, asking Near if they were ready yet. Through the mirror, I saw Matt watching my hand, freaking pervert! I had the talkie in the back pocket of my jeans. Where was the extra roll of TP, someone is going to get some Angel Soft thrown to their head. Maybe TP'ing his room would have more of an impact, wrapping every screen so he can't play video games, but it's Christmas and it'd be too much like opening presents. Why must all these plans have fatal holes in them? This is madness!

"I suppose. Ebony you have a history of always being up to no good. What purpose is served by having Matt, Mello and you locked inside a bathroom?"Well, that didn't take long, the famous L called me out –by name no less – and pointed out how compromising our situation was. Well, on the bright side, Matt –who probably figured this out a long time ago – wasn't making matters worse and making it seem like something _was_ happening behind that closed door. I blinked a few times, and turned toward the boys who were looking at each other smirking. I glared at them and shook my head, thinking about what L really had said. The bad thing was he knew I was up to something and that took a little of the pizzazz out of my plan. It's always better when the victim is clueless.

I listened to the fuzz of the talkie, trying to buy time by putting a thoughtful look on my face, the one I use before I give some absurd reason for my actions, like I thought I saw an asteroid in the sky and I had to live one more time before we all died, and the interruptions within it made by who I assumed was Near. Fighting the urge to smile, I put a fake pout on I shrugged and turned toward twiddle dee and twiddle dumb, winking once my eyes were out of view of the laptop. Putting my actress mask, I shrugged and hung my head, sighing loudly."Well guys looks like L's found us out – no shock there – but we might as well show him," I said my voice not dripping in bad acting like the TV shows. This is grade A acting here –the kind I was talking about earlier –skills honed in while I play dumb during class. That takes practice and effort, mainly effort because of all the other people miss details but I made a pact with myself to be last, so last I shall be.

Matt and Mello looked at each other, each with a raised eyebrow. I dug my eyes into them, trying not to give anything away from behind. This meant no body language whatsoever. This killed me simply because I like to think I'm a very animated person. I go off on my own tangents instead of sticking to the one at hand. I'd be the genius orphan proving –or disproving –that there was a leprechaun at the end of a rainbow. It's a shame they disappear before my investigation was over. I wasn't even going to try smiling, my back might be to the laptop, but L was no fool. Well, the hype everyone gives him makes it seem that way. My personal assessment was still in the works. I just needed one of those two thunderheads to say something. Gawking at my submissive move wasn't going to get us anywhere.

"Right," Matt said recovering first blinking a few times in shock, "I'm surprised you even tried to hide it from him." Matt shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets, shaking his head as if disappointed in me. He even through in a sigh for good measure. "Though I _am_ surprised you didn't try to convince L that you are up to nothing. You do it to Old Man Roger all the time." He turned toward Mello who also recovered, crossing his arms and sticking his hip out slightly. It's time like these I question Mello…

"Yeah, that typically is something you'd do. Though, every Christmas there has been some sort of explosion with your name on it," Mello commented rolling his eyes, shaking his head. "Keeping a plot like that from L is just a waste of time, for once Ebony is being rational." The blonde turned to leave as Matt went for the laptop, leaving me there to frown unhappily at Mello. Since when am I irrational? I may not act like I know what I'm doing at all times, but I do. Well, until my clumsiness kicks in and I almost fall to my death but that happens to everyone more or less.

"Come-on Miss Frowny pants, let's show L what you've concocted this Christmas," Matt said taking my hand in his, using his computer nerd skills by balancing the laptop on his arm as we walked out of the bathroom, the screen facing us, making it awkward. Looking back at this, if I hadn't known where the entire orphanage was in the game room, I would be slightly panicked. I mean let's look at the facts, two guys and a girl walk out of a bathroom with a laptop. Kinda kinky when you think about it now isn't it?

"So L, what do you normally do for Christmas?" I asked as we weaved through the hall, swinging our hands. The question must've caught both Matt, and the detective off guard, silence ensued, and the walking pace slowed down substantially. Turning my face slightly, I saw the red-head's head turned toward me, eyes taking on a thoughtful gaze, like he was trying to figure me out again. "Matt quit looking at me like that. You know exactly why I'm asking the question, and I know that this could be a gutsy move, but we're not playing chess now are we? I have no strategic obligations."

"Normally I'm alone," L confessed as a smile spread across my face, just as I suspected. "If I wasn't aware of your record at the orphanage, I would be concerned at this moment. However, it's Christmas, and I always enjoy seeing the faces of the children when this is over." I smiled and commented on how what kind of treat he was in for this year, maybe the illusive man wasn't as heartless and distant as he seemed, only calling us that one time in July this year. Even then, I knew it was a test, what kind I was unsure of, but it was a test nevertheless. Virtually everything we did was a test, it's getting old.

My eyes widened as we got to the entrance to the play room. I'm not going to lie, the entire place looked like a freaking magazine page! It was better than I thought it was going to be. I dream about my pranks sometimes and this looked better than my dream! There was a tan rug with intricate red and green swirls along the edges, beautifully decorated Christmas Tree, a nice cheery fire was in the fire place. It warmed my heart, that's not impressive, I feel like crying when I see cute puppies sneeze. It warmed Mello's heart, how about that? I didn't want to destroy it for the sake of my prank it was so beautiful.

"Oh my god," I whispered covering my mouth with my hands. "This is better than it looked in my head, good job Near." The albino kid raised his head and nodded once as I slowly let go of Matt's hand and paused, taking a deep breath, before walking into the room. I saw the red-head hand the laptop back to Watari and then disappear as I paused. A small gleam caught my eye, and that string lead to a net that held planes and blocks and ornaments, that was going to fall mere inches from where everyone was congregated. See why the math was important now? I then turned around and smiled as a crowd gathered around me, a small one with the others hiding behind closed doors ready to jump in and reconstruct Christmas.

"Merry Christmas L!" We all yelled as I threw my hands up, the fishing line catching the back of my hand causing the tree to fall over. Matt, who was holding his hands behind his back since I let go of his hands, handed me a remote for the plane and I took control of one labeled with an "E" flying around the room, dropping the banners before handing my ornament on the trees that were brought out by Joker and Spike. A metallic rainbow filled the room, the lights reflected off of the metal and it was hard to concentrate it was so pretty. After hitting the tree a few times, I hung my green ornament on my tree, I looked the picture from, landing my plane so I wouldn't have to worry about a mid-flight crash. The ornaments were hung on the trees, the entire thing so busy with cheer that it was more personal than the normal tree we had in here before, it was personalized with ornaments that others have made over the years.

The smaller kids helped Near and a few other people who were here for the set up make a castle out of blocks less than a minute, the signal was set at that point. The light blue blocks needed a little more personalization, snow. I closed my eyes and covered my face as the stars were placed on the tree and four cannons went off all at the same time. A mixture of screams and laughter spread through the room as I uncovered my face and looked up as colorful bits of paper mixed in with fake snow cascaded down. The room suddenly felt warmer with happiness, not real physical warmth. Like Matt said, the snow might be fake, but it was still cold, talk about authenticity.

I turned around and looked at the laptop, not a word came from it, though a part of me said this was a bad sign, I smiled at the man, or I should say after much thought I've come to the conclusion that the person was a man, behind the computer. I was also sure nothing like this has happened to the guy, go me! The room stopped moving for a second, sensing my gaze. Again everyone gathered in the middle of the room. "…Thank-you everyone, happy holidays," came the robotic voice from the laptop. Another snow cannon went off, a fresh blanket falling onto the floor.

Turning my head, giggling as I cupped my hands, letting fake snow collect in my palm, my eye's focused on the blonde. He was standing looking up as the winter wonderland fell around him. Immediately I knew what he was doing, and the look on his face confirmed my thoughts. He looked like he was in deep thought, what about I wasn't sure, but following his gaze I saw that he was focused on the "L" banner. That's when everything clicked as I started walking toward Mello. I dropped the snow in my hands and wiped my hands on my red turtleneck, putting my hands on his shoulder. He jumped and turned toward me, frowning, but then relaxing when he saw it was me. Turning back toward the banner, he shrugged off my hand, frowning.

"Hey, it's Christmas, I know you want to ask him, but don't you think today of all days you act like the British and Germans during World War One and call it truce for a day?" I asked in reference to the ranking system here. I pulled a candy cane from my tool belt and handed it to Mello. The blonde turned toward me as I gave him a reassuring smile and jerked my head slightly toward Near. "This might even give you bonus points if L sees it. Breaking through your enemies defenses by earning their trust, though Near is going to be suspicious, still. It's good practice."

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Mello took the candy cane humanely from my hands, that's monumental here normally he snatches it and stomps off, no this time he was civil. Maybe there is some hope for this scrooge. I looked up at the icy blue eyed guy and he actually mumbled "Thank-you" in a humane voice. Perhaps he doesn't really hate me. Sure I pester him like there is no tomorrow, but that's because it's too easy. I actually value his friendship, without him, I can't tell you what kind of Ebony I would be without him. Probably boring, I try out some prank ideas on him, mainly the ones involving paint because those are always really easy and fast to set up.

Chuckling I turned around and watched as Mello, very awkwardly I might add, gave the tiny white themed kid the red and white stripped cane. He makes me so proud. I wiped away a fake tear, chuckling as I crossed my arms as Near looked up at the blonde in muted curiosity, actually blinking a few times at him before reaching up and grabbing the sugary treat, pausing and then sneaking a look at me through his hair. I merely shrugged in response. He knew I had everything to do with it, but it didn't matter, Mel called a truce, my work as peacemaker was done for today, I could finally relaxed, that castle looked freaking epic.

"When will you cease to amaze me? One moment you're bursting at the seams with excitement, the next you're acting with a believable performance even to those who know you, and then you convince Mello, who utterly despised Near to give him a candy cane. What's next? Drawing L without seeing his face?" came Matt's voice from behind me. I jumped and turned around, seeing the gamer leaning against a wall, arms and ankles crossed. Tilting my head to the side, I thought about what he had said. I have been quite amazing today haven't I? Ebony for the win!

"That is on the list," I commented sarcastically, "but it's Christmas, and I have a philosophy when it comes to Christmas, don't make enemies, make friends, it's a lot easier not to mention it brings smiles to people's faces. If I were to accurately do the impossible, I'd be the enemy to the world, because you and I both know I'd end up abusing my power." I spun on my toe, holding my hands out in a "T," smiling as I closed my eyes. My eyes snapped open as my toe got caught in the rug.

Hands caught my upper arms as I braced for impact with the floor. Letting out my held breath, I looked up and saw Matt's eyes widened, worry seen in them. Blinking at a slightly increased rate, I looked through the plastic of the goggles on Matt's eyes, watching his pupils dilate as he pulled me back to my feet. Coughing I bowed my head, letting my bangs to fall into my eyes, avoiding his gaze. Why did I choose then to be so observant? Of all the times, really? I had to watch his pupils dilate. I mean that's great for me, because I know there is a mutual attraction here, but it made the butterflies in my stomach commence World War III.

"Thanks again," I muttered, as I continued to avoid his gaze, playing with the strap of the goggles around my neck. When did Wammy's get so warm? Roger's a freaking cheapskate, keeping it just warm enough to where we didn't need coat to keep warm, light jackets were needed to keep the cold natured warm. Right now though, it felt sweltering. "I guess my awesome unpredictableness only lasts for so long eh?" I asked scratching the back of my head chuckling, closing my eyes and lifting my head. I wasn't going to look into those deep blue eyes, I'd just blush and The Ebony doesn't blush. Trip and almost die sure, but blushing is out of the question.

My chuckle died as I noticed we were alone. I went as far as taking a 360 to make sure, just the two of us. Facing the red head again, I rocked back on my heels and then leaned forward on my toes. This just got slightly more awkward than it actually was, and take my word for it, it was pretty tense already.

"So," I trailed off looking at Matt raising my eyebrows for a brief second. I went to say something else, but I was cut off as my upper arms were held onto firmly and yet shy at the same time. My heart started racing as I thought about opening my mouth to sooth the nerves that suddenly sprung up by rambling. As if he was going on impulse, Matt's lips were pressed firmly against mine, effectively shutting me up from an upcoming ramble. The sad thing was, I had no clue what I was going to say anyways. Even my inner ramble was shut-up as I kissed him back during the short lived kiss.

He broke it up, pressing our foreheads together, pulling his goggles to hang around my neck, like mine. "You had that rambling look on your face. Have I ever told you that you're cute when you don't know how to fill an awkward silence?" Has Matt always had that English accent? Well, I guess he has, and I never really noticed it because I am in England, it's an expected norm. I was the one of the odd ones with my American accent, sure I mimicked the English, but it was only when making fun of Roger and what he said the last time he busted me for my latest prank.

"I guess I do tend to ramble," I whispered, not trusting my voice to use my normal voice without squeaking. I tensed slightly as Matt started to brush my hair over my ear. He paused for a second, watching my expression before finishing the movement, his hand moving to my chin, lifting it, forcing me to look at him. "Uhh…" I brilliantly said, yeah good work Ebony. One minute your organizing a winter wonderland and the next you're saying "uhh" You truly are a genius that could find the cure to Cancer, and when you get the Nobel Prize you stand up at the podium wanting to say "In your face!  
but you end up saying "uhhh"

The gamer scoffed and kissed me again, this time it seemed like he had thought about it, that it wasn't just something he forced himself to do to get over nerves. It was like jumping into cold water so you don't slowly wade in and squeal after every step because the water is colder than ice. This was more like walking into class with a purpose because you have actually studied for a test. Either way, I responded and kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck, and stepping closer slightly.

"You two make me want to barf," came Mello's tough slightly peeved off voice. Finishing the kiss we smiled at each other, Matt moving his hands to hold me around the waist. The gamer raised an eyebrow as we went to turn toward Mello, probably going with a combined sarcastic remark, but things rarely go as planned when someone, as klutzy as me is involved. I was even planning on using this fake snow as a snowball and throw it at the blonde, then slip and slide into a tree or the walls as I ran away.

"Ow!" I said when our heads smacked together the elastic of the goggles being the source of the pain. "Well, isn't this convenient? Here we were going to make some sarcastic comment to Mel, and we get hurt. Talk about instant karma." Mello smirked and crossed his arms, lifting his chin as he leaned against the door frame. "And to think I helped this guy." I shook my head, not helping the situation at all by hitting Matt's head a few more times.

"Well, this is your luck we're messing with Eb," Matt said as he reached up and started messing with the goggle straps, looking at nothing in particular. I tilted my head and tried to see what was going on from Mello's point of view. We both laughed at our predicament, my luck today hasn't been the best. "No offence Mel –like it matters Ebony was going to contradict that sentence – but why are you here?" The blonde perked up, seriously can this guy only be civil toward Matt? What have I done to the guy? Don't answer that! I know I've done a lot to the guy, but I gave him a chance, I really did. He's the one who said I was stupid, so I had to prove him wrong, it's the circle of pranks.

"It's time for lunch, Roger sent me," Mello shrugged "My job is done, you two can continue with whatever you were doing, I won't tell." I lifted my right hand and opened my mouth about to comment on how "nice" he was. Mello cut me off though as if he saw this coming. Really? Am I getting that predictable? "And before you say anything it's because Matt's involved, if it was you with anyone else Ebony, I'd be making posters." The blonde peeled off of the door frame and walked off. Oh he thinks he has the last laugh, but he is oh so wrong.

"Love you too Mel," I called waving as I stood on my tip toes, somehow helping Matt by untangling us. "Oh look, FREEEDOMM!" I threw my hands up as I yelled the word. After getting that out of my system, I took hold of Matt's hand, and pushed up on my tip toes, letting go of his hand and wrapped it around his neck and grabbed the collar of his shirt lightly kissing him. He stiffened slightly, but eventually he came around and returned the kiss. "That's for the mistletoe," I mumbled looking as our hands as they weaved together, the two of us swaying in the low light of the playroom. My assumption was Mello turned off the lights.

"Merry Christmas!" Matt said cheerfully resting his cheek on the crown of my head as the sun started to cast elongated shadows into the play room.

"And a Happy New Year," I answered matching his expression, taking one last look around me. I wonder how I was going to top this next year. I have set the bar high this year.

* * *

**Thanks Prince of Oriel for the goggles idea, it seems like it's something that would happen to Ebony so I added it. **

**This marks the end of my absence, and because I'm out of school expect more chapters of Ebony! I am going to warn you guys that I glaze over the Yotsuba arc and basically dive right into the retrieval of the notebook because I, as a fan, don't really like that arc. I know this wasn't what you'd expect, but it's 18 pages long, 8 pages longer than a normal chapter. **

**In other news, this made my day so I thought I'd share. On December 9th I decided to look at who is still reading my stories, and 110 views 84 on this story alone. I get that kind of recognition whenever I post a new chapter, maybe I should take longer vacation. Just kidding, I got NOTHING done. **

**Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting. I should have chapter 21 out before 2013. **

**To Kashgal and Nature's Ruler:**_ Sorry I didn't PM my reply, I was getting ready to disappear at that time and then I forgot about it. _

_**Ebony:**__ ….What happened Mel? Are you alright?_

_**Matt:**__ Eb, he looks like he's asleep, how is he going to answer you? _

_**Ebony:**__ Telepathy duh. And you play fantasy games. Ha!_

* * *

**Happy Holidays! **

**~ Pie **


	22. Chapter 21 An Eye for an Eye

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, this is written for my amusement, and the amusement of others. So be amused people.**

**Chapter Twenty-one An Eye for An Eye**

"Guys, for now on my two best friends, next to the guys back at home, are Ben and Jerry," I shoveled some of my "best friend" into my mouth and cringed as a shiver passed through my body. "Ugh! How do girls do this, ice cream is too freaking cold!" I complained my voice starting with the cliché newly dumped voice to my sarcastic bubbly self. Sighing loudly, I misused my dairy treat by leaning back and launching it with a spoon at the ceiling. Yes it stuck, but I soon realized there was a strawberry in it, and I lost it. My jaw dropped, in shock. I've eaten half the container and only 5 shovel full of ice-cream have had a strawberry in it. Statistically there was only a 3% chance that could've had the fruit in it. I spun around in the new computer chair, it had the "fresh out of an Ikea" smell.

"What's wrong Ebony?" asked Mr. Yagami as I shoveled another spoonful of strawberry ice cream into my mouth, closing my right eye in pain because of the spoon being just as big as my hand was being used to transport the American ice cream from the tub to my mouth. In other words, I was putting an inhumanely amount of the cold stuff in my mouth at once, resulting in the horrid brain freeze. I shook my head and ran a head through my hair looking around the new building, still smelled like a furniture store.

"Well, after looking though my head out of boredom, and stumbling across the old psychology book I have in here, I have come to the solid conclusion that I am depressed. The last time I was depressed, my parents were killed. This is a totally different sense of depression. While the first type of depression is the kind that, if someone is of age, would drink to, and possibly commit suicide after getting shit-faced drunk. This second depression is less depressing, and is more of a 'let's stuff our faces and forget our problems!'" I lifted my spoon in the air and then scooped another spoonful into my mouth. I then frowned and laid back, using my foot to push away from the desk as the ceiling ice cream started to drip.

"What about Kira?" Mastuba asked as I shook my head, stupid ice cream! I then looked into the tub of strawberry goodness I still had half a tub left. My shoulders dropped in disappointment; I am still wallowing in failure here! When does this stuff start working? All it's doing is giving me more pain, only distracted me for a brief seconds, apparently brain freezes don't work on Wammy kids.

"What about Kira?" I growled as I stirred the melting ice cream, searching for a solid strawberry. "You mean the one that is killing criminals? That's all I have, the killings are centered here in Japan instead of everywhere. I got bored from that after the amazing fort of folders was concurred, switched my investigation to Naomi Misora, figured that I could get farther in that investigation. But no," I dragged the end of the word out in sarcastic annoyance, "that has to come up as another dead end." I took another bite and then pointed my shovel-spoon at the young detective.

"Let's also not forget how Light and Misa are out of prison. I mean I didn't want to let them out, but stupid legal and health issues coming into play. I mean, who has health issues? They are a huge hindrance, being mentally exhausted while going through a pointless interrogation that legally means we should let them. So L has Mr. Yagami shoot his own son and we are where? Joining Ebony in dead-ends-ville." Putting Ben and Jerry on the desk I rested my chin on my palm and looked up at the monitors as Misa Amane was sorting through her closet for clothes for her date.

This place was something, very expensive too. Though at least now I could mute Misa, when Mr. Yagami shot Light and she screamed shrilly, I was deaf for a good five minutes. So during date time with the handcuffed duo I had the power of controlling the computers and junk. Though right now, it was raining right in front of the keyboard, making the floor all sticky. Mr. Barefoot isn't going to be too happy about sticky floor. I'll just blame Matsuda even though he's clearly innocent.

"Ebony, may I have a word," said one of the conjoined twins, the one I actually tolerated. I still wasn't in the mood, so I still scowled childishly at the mentioning of my name. Turning the chair toward the raven-haired man I nodded and finished drinking the melted soup that used to be strawberry ice cream. "Was that my ice cream?" I looked at the carton as I swallowed, shaking my head and slowly stood up from my chair, scratching my scalp. I then looked at the colorful container, inside it, outside it, and even on the bottom, dripping more ice cream onto the floor.

"Didn't have your name on it, and I was under the impression that unless it was cake, as long as it had fruit it was fair game. Besides, I needed to drown my sorrows, the walls of this place have done more for the Kira case than I have for the past few weeks," I monotonously said with a shrug, looking at the floor, the blonde was dressed, how nice. Wait. "Ryuzaki, I am not going to be forced on a date am I? Because I kinda have someone back home, and I would hate to tell him that there was a pedo dragging me against my will on a date that neither of us wanted to be at." The slouched over detective just looked at me as Light scoffed. "Stay out of this pretty boy, you may be in the clear for now, but I got my eye on you." I did the two fingers pointing in my eye, and then pointed at Light's.

L's thumb found his mouth as he nodded much to my disdain. I opened my mouth to protest. "Don't consider it a date, I find that to be very uncomfortable. Think of it more like hanging out," L said turning around. I sighed, he avoided the pedo comment. I opened my mouth to protest, but Light grabbed my arm and dragged me across the floor. For a pretty boy, he was strong. Even when I started flailing like an epileptic octopus he managed to keep hold of me. So, I became dead weight.

"Help! I am being kidnapped! This can count as kidnapping, you're dragging me to my doom!" I then sighed and frowned. "Nope, that didn't work either. Ya know what Pretty Boy? I blame you." Light dropped me on the ground when after being dragged into the elevator. There was a thud, my head hitting the ground despite me flexing my abdominals to prevent it. Someone was holding a grudge. Doesn't that cause early aging? On second thought what doesn't cause early aging? We're all going to grow old and die. Why should I care what I look like when I have more wrinkles than the expensive shirt I continually ball up and throw into my suitcase?

I sat up and rubbed the back of my head as I stood up, leaning against the side wall. There were many comments I wanted to make to Light, but it was pointless. The delivery would be sub-par and so would any subsequent comment. If I were to say something, Light wouldn't acknowledge me, he's already learned that if he lets me be I leave him alone, or I get more annoying, but given my mood I'd leave him alone before anything. That may be lame, but I just downed a quart of ice cream I am not happy go lucky Ebony right now. In fact, I have a slight tummy ache.

I looked up and tilted my head to the side, interesting. I needed to get more sleep, I was panda the second now. Though with the right make-up and ripped up clothing I could be a zombie, then I could scare Matsuda. Better yet, save my eye bags for Halloween next year and scare everyone else! Matt is going to freak out! I might want to make sure he doesn't have a BB gun, or any other gun before I do this.

"Hey Misa," Light said after the perky blonde opened the door, wearing a short black dress and black and white socks that covered most of her thighs. Didn't I feel less feminine, I was dressed in my usual elbow length sleeved shirt and jeans, though today I tried to liven up my mood by wearing green. Neon green, like if it was dark you'd still be able to see my shirt it's so bright. She then saw me and L both looking at the ground at the awkward situation. We expected her to pounce on pretty boy what can we say?

"Why are they here?" she asked turning her lip up is disgust. I really don't want to know what she had planned at this point. Though all three of us answered her question as to why L was here, the handcuffs, the two held their hands up and I casually pointed, adding that I was dragged along against my will. "Well come in I guess." Misa pouted as I shrugged my apology as we walked into the apartment. I paused in the doorway shocked, I mean sure I saw this place on camera but I thought they made this place look better. I was wrong, it looked like a magazine picture.

My eyes scanned the room, it was open and bright. The décor suggested that either Watari or someone else had decorated the room, and not L. The walls were painted a light color, the curtains blocked out peeping toms, but not too much light, there was a rug underneath the coffee table. The walls had been dressed. The air was inviting, and homey, I know I just had a vacation, but I missed home again all of a sudden.

I ignored everyone and jumped on the couch, hanging upside down, still not brightening my mood. In fact, it made everything slightly worse seeing how my brain freeze came back in the form of a headache. Seeing the world from the eyes of a bat has lost its luster too. I sighed and sat up, sitting on the couch like a normal person, leaning on my palm so much that my cheek forced my eye closed. Stupid world, I blame you for my failure.

The conjoined twins joined us with cake, and tea, and surprisingly Light had the rainbow of grapes in his hands. Lifting my hand as he civilly handed them to me, no snarky comment. In fact, there was a slight smile on his face. I was going to die eating these grapes. I blinked in shock and looked at him in question, my eyebrows raised skeptically as I thought of doing the taboo and question whether or not the fruit was safe to eat, though L was there and he'd find some way to warn me if Light had poisoned them.

"Ryuzaki told me you were against our confinement after you came to the conclusion we weren't Kira. Consider it a peace offering," Light said with a shrug folding his arms behind his head as he sat down. I managed to flatten my face, the pathological liar strikes again. I eyed L for a brief moment, there was no way I was going to act besties with pretty boy. I saw the strategic advantage, I still used water torture against him, he wasn't going to be on the boat of friendship either. Though, he did make a compelling offer for peace.

"Yes, that's right. I figured that by the time you looked like you were going to go off the deep end it was pointless to continue on, also something else caught my interest," I monotonously half lied. I put a grape in my mouth and chewed on it in thought. I knew Yagami was a good actor, he's proven that skill set already, this was me confirming that Misa Amane was just as Light-obsessed as she appeared. To be honest, from that deafening scream I am assuming that she couldn't act. "Thank-you." I suppose that I could stretch my acting muscle for a while.

I scoffed as Misa commented on how lame the date was. Sure I've been on like two, and one of those was spent in his room playing video games, but still it was fun. "No no no, please pretend I'm not even here. By the way are you going to eat that cake?" asked L pointing at the pastry across the table. My eyes focused on it and then at L. If Misa said what I thought she was, it was war. This depression was going to be concurred, that and Light's peace offering didn't last long. Besides, he owed me for tagging along.

"Cake makes you fat, I'm not going to eat any," sighed Misa not looking at the cake. Might not be the exact wording I thought of, but cake is cake. I lifted my head as L, fork laying on his lips continued the emotionless stare at Misa. I could take the cake now, and eat it half of it before L even opened his mouth. Then turning the plate at the right angle L wouldn't notice right away that I had eaten anything. It was perfect, only he would eventually find out and let's face it, I'm a messy eater. I'd have to be the worst house guest and use the throw pillow in my back as a napkin.

"Actually I find you don't gain any weight if you use calories by using your brain." I chuckled at L's comment. It was the truth, but the way Misa took it, her asking if L was calling her stupid, was hilarious. Then of all things she tried to bargain with the genius. Oh when will anyone learn when going against someone who was considered a genius one does not simply bargain with one? "Even if I were to leave you two alone, I'd still be watching on surveillance cameras. So it wouldn't make any difference."

"You pervert!" yelled Misa sitting up enraged as I sighed, shook my head and reached for the cake lazily, not caring what L, or anyone else did. "Would you stop it with your creepy hobby?" My hand grabbed onto the edge of the table as my fingers brushed the glass, L standing up on the couch, standing on the table with one foot, grabbing onto the opposite edge of the plate.

"It's not as fun as it sounds, I mean at first you feel like a secret agent or something, but once you realize that watching normal life is worse than watching paint dry, finding another source of entertainment becomes a priority," I said raising my head slightly to look at L through my hair. "Let go of the cake, you already had yours. Besides you owe me."

"I asked for it. That fact alone dictates I should get it. Also you said as long as it was cake it was mine," L argued I smirked and shook my head, I could go on for weeks with him for this cake. Still, he managed to get me to smile. Putting my right hand on the plate, I moved my left hand to grab onto the fork Misa wasn't going to use, standing up, putting a foot on the table, L and I lifting the plate.

"In that case, I challenge you for the cake," I said pointing my fork at him. "Winner takes the cake, literally. Unless you're chicken." I think it goes without saying that I made chicken noises at the detective, fighting the urge to let go of the plate to add the effect with the wings. "Let's also look into who I hang out with at home Ryuzaki, you have no chance." L blinked once and tugged slightly on the plate. I tugged back and stuck out my tongue.

"Ebony, let go of the plate," L ordered. I shook my head, and even though I knew I'd regret it, told him to "make me." He then sighed as I tugged again raising my fork to stab him in the hand, keeping my eye on his free hand. I've lived with Mello, and I've stolen his chocolate before, I think I can get away with L's cake.

"Wah!" I yelled as L jerked his hand away from my fork, making my socked foot lose its traction and my face met table. "I know stabbing you with a fork hardly counts as being nice, but that was not much better! Now you owe me even more for the concussion. Give me the cake!" I shouted, to be honest I was surprise my new acquaintance with the table didn't leave me to let go of the plate.

"Ryuzaki she has a point, that is going to leave a mark. Seriously, you both have the mentality of a five year old, Ebony I expect this from, but you Ryuzaki aren't you supposed to be the mature one?" Light said taking my side. Point for Ebony! Seeing how I have the most I get the cake. The two of us turned toward him, giving me the opportunity to slip the plate from his fingers, he was stronger than he looked. So, I just stabbed the cake with my fork and stuffed the bite in my mouth.

"Thansh Right!" I said through my first bite of cake. "Sorry Ryushashi, but you shur neef fo rearn fo share." I then pouted, back to my self-loathing thoughts. I was really good for nothing right now but being a painfully annoying distraction. I was no better than Misa! The cheese waffles?! I sighed and took another bite. Stuffing my face wasn't going to get anywhere either.

I put the cake on the table and then threw myself over the armrest of the couch, starting at the wall. "What's wrong with you two?" Light asked, I turned slightly toward him, but didn't acknowledge him otherwise. "I thought moving here was supposed to help us catch Kira, but sense we've been here you two don't seem that motivated to me." I scoffed and commented to myself on how he should get a metal for this insightful observation, it's been almost a month since I've pranked anything but inanimate objects.

"Not motivated?" asked L holding his cake with a sad puppy dog like expression on his face. "You're right. Actually I'm depressed." Well, that explained the darker circles under his eyes. "Well truthfully all this time I thought you were Kira, Ebony confirmed this, and our entire case ended on that fact. I guess I can't get past the fact that my deduction was wrong. Though having said that I'm still suspicious of you, that's why we're wearing these." L raised his cuffed hand pausing. "And we also know Kira can control people's actions, which means Kira highly likely was controlling your actions so that we would suspect you. If I assume you and Misa were being controlled by him, then everything we've observed so far makes much more sense to me."

"And if that's the case," I said interrupting. "Dark and blondie were Kira during that time, there is no logical explanation otherwise. However, your weird memory lapse easily proved us wrong of you two being the original Kira, and Kira-B. That's when I left interrogations to Panda-eyes, however I've had more disappointment. The Kira we're chasing right now is so much like the original it's insulting, totally disinterests me. Then, I looked into another case I was sure to keep me interested, and I was right until I hit a dead end. I'm hopelessly useless at this point."

"It's probably better if I don't try so hard," L continued. "By chasing Kira like this we're doing nothing but putting our lives at risk for nothing." L's articulation was distorted because he had his finger hooked in his mouth. I nodded from my perch on the couch, it was a waste of time, nothing added up, or this was truly the case we just couldn't solve. If we found Kira, he could just did what he did with Light and Misa, transfer his power to the next puppet. Going back to the Shinigami, that would make the being the puppet master in this case.

"Ryuzaki," Light said standing up. I didn't react as L turned toward him. Misa squeaked as the raven haired detective got a face full of fist. I lifted my head and turned toward them as they both flew across the room crashing into the wall totally trashing the room. I simply sighed and shook my head as L sat up. This wasn't going to end well, so I might as well get involved. Exercise produces endorphins, and endorphins are attributed to happy moods, I could use a happy mood.

"You know, that really hurt," said L as Misa collected herself after stepping on a slice of fallen cake. Light went off on his soap box about how L's deduction was wrong, and how he didn't feel like doing anything, and blah blah blah. For a fight this was really talkative. Light even picked L up by the collar of his shirt yelling in his face, saying that if it was now pointless to chase Kira then why were he and Misa confined, why those innocent FBI agents were killed, and more pointless details.

"I understand, but whatever the reason," L said his hair covering his eyes as he kicked Light across the room, "an eye for an eye my friend." I rolled my eyes they both yelled out, again flying in sync as they crashed into the couch, their momentum causing it to fall backwards. Alright, this was becoming pointless, neither of them were genius enough to use their greatest disadvantage as an advantage. This is a big disappointment here. If Mello and I were in this situation we'd end up breaking that chain.

"Please, stop," I sighed my voice monotonic, and of normal volume, knowing they weren't going to listen. Rolling my eyes I walked over to L and pulled the bobby pin I've kept hidden for a good couple of months out of my hair. I knelt down as L continued to defend the fact that Light and Misa at one point were Kira in some way shape or form. Unlocking the handcuff, I put it on my wrist, causing them to finally look at me. "Don't mind me, I'm just going to show you two how to use this," I raised the cuff in front of my face, "as an advantage. You two are both apparently too dense to figure it out for yourselves, so I figured someone with actual brains would show you how."

Like I said earlier, for a pretty boy, Light was strong. To be honest, I couldn't believe the gentleman Innocent Light was actually punched me without me intercepting the punch aimed at L. Flying though the air, I grabbed onto the chain and pulled, I might be at a disadvantage in height, and weight, but I'm used to these fights. Hitting the wall with my back I pulled my feet to my chest and kicked Light when he flew into me, I then wrapped the chain around my hand and pulled as he flew through the air and punched him in the jaw.

I slid across the floor, holding my hands in front of my chest as I sock skied into the wall, falling due to Newton's laws. Coughing due to the wind getting knocked out of me, I looked at Light. I still counted this as an advantage, I managed to hit him twice, three if you counted each individual appendage hitting him. It really just came down to the fact I was on my feet first ready to hit Light again.

"Now the next time you to go at it, it should be much more fun to watch," I unlocked the cuff and slapped it onto L's wrist looking around assuming the "date" was over. "I'm going to be useless on my floor, if you need me call, but there is no guarantee I'll answer. That means you Matsuda." I waved over my head and to the elevator.

I moved the joystick of the playstation controller in my hands as I found a way to take a bite of the apple being held by my knees. Trust me that's harder than it sounds, I don't want to bruise the fruit. I scrolled through my command menu, it'd would be a quick battle if I summoned a Guardian Force, but I've played this story so many times that it'd be cake to play through this boss battle without them. I didn't wait to level my weapons anymore, I just did it from the beginning. I was also in need of some kick-ass magic, but at this point the best spell I could have if Firaga, I want Ultima and I want it now!

"No Squall, don't die! You have to confess your love to Riona even though you don't know that you love her!" I exclaimed as the character died, well that solved one issue, what move Selphie should do. Items, alright we have potion, nope, uh hi-potion, no, eye drops, no. Where are my…oh there are my phoenix downs The character came back to life as I commanded Zell, his only other comrade to use a hi-potion to fully heal him.

I jumped as my laptop beeped at me. Mother of all videogames, this better be good. I pressed pause as Seifer tried to use a Thundgaga, really these names are impossible to say. Why did I level so high? I opened the lid fully and answered the Skype call. "What Matt, I'm busy being depressed. I already tried stuffing my face so I'm closing my sorry self from the world, your call just dashed all hopes of that working. I got to disk three of Eight today."

"That bad huh? Wait, you mean you've been playing the same game all day? And your eye bags are looking darker, you should get to sleep. Though, you are at a good part in the game. Almost as the character defining 'I love her' moment. Really cheesy, but Riona and Squall have always been your favorite couple." As Zell's turn came up again I set up the summon I promised I wasn't going to use.

"Right? I love that scene, and the one when he saves her. It's so sweet I want to barf! And I refuse to sleep, I always spend time thinking before sleep, and if I do that I'll go back to my self-loathing and I really don't want to go down that path again. Seriously, how did you break my depression whenever I first arrived at Wammy's?" I asked as my jaw fell in shock as Zell died on me. Well he would've Ifirit was the one that died. "Oh Come-on that was cheap and you know it! Stupid game." I threw down the controller, I was going to die anyways, might as well sit back and enjoy it.

"If I remember right I told you to live in the moment, to screw the past, and you took that as an ok to prank Roger. Uh-oh, I know that look in your eye, whatever you plan on doing, please tell me it won't get you sent home." The smile that had spread across my face became wider as I laughed. I shook my head as the final member of my three man party died. This is why I liked Nine's game play slightly more. I had more victims.

"It's just a harmless prank that Mello would never approve of. It involves the death of chocolate, but hey it's hilarious. If L doesn't approve plan B is a sharpie mustache, someone said I acted like a 5 year old, and he hasn't seen the worst of me. Of course though, I really don't feel like leaving my room right now, too tired." You would think there would be a pause, but there wasn't Matt didn't waste any time getting on my case. I hugged the pillow I was using at butt cushion and laid on my stomach facing the laptop.

"This isn't the same depression, at least you're considering doing something. Now I want you to get that chocolate and sharpie and go prank that person like you've never pranked before do you understand me soldier?" I saluted at the camera weakly, and then like a mock soldier as I came up with something that would normally make me at least smile.

"Sir yessir! After I finish this game." My name was then said sternly over the laptop. "Yes my dearest boyfriend?" I put on my sweetest smile, hoping that it'd get somewhere, I wasn't expecting anything, and I was correct in assuming so.

"No, go. You've played that game enough that after you get Ragonok you will be flying around for another 10 hours tackling side quests. Now go prank that guy or I'll come find you. Don't underestimate me, when I want to do something. I do it." I rolled my eyes and paused the game again, looking at the screen.

"Yeah, you're totally going to find me while playing Zombie mode on Black Ops. Alright I'm getting the sharpie, I have to talk to L to see if my plan will work. Wait, I have a phone. Ha! Loophole for Ebony!" I stopped trying to get up from the floor and reached up for the phone dialing the number for L and Light's room, pausing to press the mute button knowing the undead would keep the redhead occupied for a while.

"Hello Ebony," L answered his voice hushed, it must be late at night if he can definitively say it's me. "What is it you need?" I told him that I was basically being forced to pull a prank on Light. "He is the only one that hasn't seen the effect of your boredom hasn't he? I assume you need something from me in order to keep me from the cross-fire, otherwise you wouldn't have bothered to call."

"Well, yeah you're right. You see, I want to draw a mustache on Light, but that's not all. This is where it gets to be an Ebony prank, I am also going to line his clothes with double sided tape and lace his comb, hair brush, whatever, with so much paint that his hair will change color. Ya know tar would be funnier, I think I have some of that here. Having planted a picture that says not to take a shower, he will then go against common thought after seeing his hair, mainly because he should be so mad that all rational thought will be thrown out the door. The shower will instead be vegetable oil, and upon exiting the room, he will slip on more oil and slide down the stairs, which we will have lined with something, into a pool of chocolate which will be in the room where we meet.

"So whaddya say, will you take the handcuffs off so that I may go through with this. My eye is still slightly swollen, and according to both my memory, and the person that pulled me out of the first big bout of depression this will brighten my mood for a while. It's a story I rather not retell, it hold too many secrets of what makes Ebony, Ebony." I picked up a piece of hair and twirled it around my finger as Matt was waving at the camera. I moved the phone from my ear so he could see. Why he didn't just talk was beyond me.

"I suppose I could cooperate with this, when will you be up to get the bedroom ready?" I said I could be up in 15 minutes at the most. "Then I'll see you in a few minutes." I hung up, already learning L wasn't one to give a farewell. I started figuring out how much cooking oil I was going to need in order to do this prank the right way.

"The boss said it was alright. Now I need to figure out how much cooking oil I need, I'm thinking three big jugs. Eh, I'll grab a fourth just in case. Bye Matt I'll video tape it so when this is over you can see it!" I turned off Skype and halfway closed the lid of the laptop as I finally stood up and grabbed a sharpie before taking the elevator to the supply room. There was a perk to have Watari the best cook ever keep stuff on its own floor. Ya know, I'm going to ask for a Churro, those things are good.

Even though I was wearing socks which is already a good footstep muffler, I made my footsteps even lighter as I looked at the ceiling, finding an air vent. L already knew I was here, but Light can be a light sleeper sometimes, a perk of all of that surveillance, though after his memory got wiped, there was a slight heaviness brought onto his sleep. That might be significant, but there is no proof.

My breath was silent as I crawled through the vents, these were actually roomier than the ones at Wammy's I'm actually jealous. Though I'm the only one who actually uses them as a means of transportation, these were still awesome. Normally I'd have to push my backpack ahead of me as I army crawled, perfecting that was a pain. Not here, I was army crawling with my tote with 4 big jugs of cooking oil balanced on my back.

Looking through the vent I smirked, nodded slightly to myself and backed up to drop down in the other room to minimize noise, both of them were in the bedroom. Normally I drop down inviting myself in, but even though I had a man on the inside, I still had to play my cards smart. L might be able to track me up here, and I was giving him my secrets, but I kinda wanted Roger to know so it'd be harder to prank him.

The jugs swooshed in very horrible sync as I regained my balance and didn't pay attention to the décor, I was on a mission and dang it I was going to act like it. My footsteps soundless, I walked into the bedroom, L looking up slightly off guard, maybe I was a little more ninja like than I thought, I was sure if anything he'd hear the oil sloshing around. I waved at him with a wide smile, eyes closed as I put the bag down, walking over to Light and drew a moustache on his upper lip.

"Want to help? I asked holding out the sheets of double sided tape I magically produced from my pocket as I pulled out a small container of tar from my other pocket. It's pranking time. I looked at L for a moment as I heard the cuffs fall to the floor, the secluded detective actually standing up to help, he must really feel like crap if he was actually willing to help me.

"I want to see why you do this. Trying it myself if the best way to get results," L responded as he took the tape and walked over to the clothes Light had set out. I smiled and went to work putting the black stuff all over the comb of pretty-boy. This was how I initiated Task Force, and so it was Light turn to be initiated, he was one of us. Smiling evilly I let the tar drip out, looking in the mirror and frowning, my face was swollen.

Then it hit me, I was lying like a boss earlier, because the king of lies lied first. I demoted Light, I could tell he was a liar from the first word he said. L I actually had to think about and analyze exactly how he said something. Therefore, L was the king of lies and Light with Liar Sechs, German for six. Don't know why I chose that number, it's just fun to say so it stays.

I turned toward L and watched him for a moment, both studying his movements to a point and making sure Light was asleep. "Hey L, that lie you have me warped into, other than using me to get Light's trust –a bad idea really I hate his guts –what other purpose is it serving?" L didn't stop moving his hands, they slowed slightly, suggesting thought but it wasn't too noticeable. He then turned toward me as I brought out some cooking oil and a few tools.

"I wanted to see how you would react. If you went along with the lie I wanted to see how efficient you were as a liar. If you went against it, I was going to see how you carried that argument as well. If you weren't acting so apathetic beforehand I don't think Light would've believed you, you become more apathetic when you lie." I stopped moving toward the bathroom and looked at L, he was completely right, and I had little doubt on the truth of his words, but still that hurt a little.

"Gee thanks, everyone loves to hear what their lying habit is. I'd point yours out but you too stone-faced to react," I whispered back sarcastically. I pushed my hair behind my ear and looked at the ground going through my head all the instances where I've half-lied, withheld information, or flat out lied. Though all of this there was no need for this test, he just lied again. "What's the real reason?" I looked up and shook my head as I walked inside the bathroom to tamper with the shower.

"I know you hate Light, I wanted to see how deep it was, apparently not as deep as I thought seeing how you still managed to lie about it," L commented not helping my sour mood. He was really starting to get under my skin, he has a knack for that. Normally I just play it off, Mello being able to vouch for this more than anyone, but I wasn't in the mood to play it off. For once I was reacting how a normal human being would be reacting to these situations, only my comebacks were better informed and were harder to understand. Still, I wasn't happy.

"You didn't feel how hard I kicked and punched him. I may only be 5'4", pretty short for an American, but I can hit people. One of the first things I learned from Mello, right up there with 'Don't mess with my chocolate you damn psycho!' I never listened," I said shrugging as I poured the oil into the shower head. "Light knows know that we both lied, another reason why I'm doing this." My tone was starting to suggest my annoyance, and I wasn't afraid of that. Was I going to prank L? No, not now, but I might later, and when it happens I can say I implied that I warned him. Then I'd be in the clear because as a detective he's supposed to look past my words.

I turned to look over my shoulder after I was done working on the showerhead. Matt was right, this was making me feel better. That guy was starting to know me better than me, I had to change that soon. Eh, I'll worry about that when my dark cloud goes away.

* * *

**Happy New Year! Or Late New Year! Or Early New Year! Take your pick on which celebratory phrase applies for the day because I won't be posting another chapter until 2013. My New Year's Resolution is going to be the same one it has been for the past 3 years now; To Remember my New Year's Resolution. Either way, we survived 2012 go us!**

**I'm gonna thank Memory25 for helping me rewrite the beginning, it wasn't pretty when I looked at this chapter. *shivers* **

**Anyways Thanks for Reading, Reviewing, Favoriting, and Alerting. See you next year!**

**To Kashgal and Nature's Ruler:**

_**Ebony: **__Did you say Russian? Tell him I said "Privet!" *waves* _

_**Pie:**__ Ya know I'm surprised people don't come up to her asking where she's really from sometimes. _

_**Matt:**__ or how she's not kidnapped by some gang faction due to her excessive knowledge of foreign languages._

_**Mello:**__ Well it would be good riddance._

_**Ebony: **__ *remembering Mello* MEL! *runs over and hugs him* I missed you!_

_**Mello:**__ Get off me! *Pushes away with foot*_


	23. Chapter 22 Ebony Now in Deutsch

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or anything else referenced. **

**Chapter Twenty-two Ebony get Mad**

I groaned and spun my chair around again, my mouth being hung open in the most attractive way possible. I was honestly surprised I didn't have a river of drool flowing out of my mouth. The room blurred around me as L looked at me with his head turned to the side, looking over the back of his chair. The spinning slowed and I groaned again, this time the "groan" sounded more like I was trying to make my lunch make a reappearance than an actual groan, and it lasted for a good thirty seconds. "I'm bored!" I turned back to the Sim game on the computer as a desperate measure of trying to sooth my boredom. Now, what should I make my tiny brunette do?

Now, I know what you're thinking, actually I don't, but I know what I'd be thinking so let's go with that. I have a Sim that looks eerily like Light and I just so happen to be an evil, evil person and gave him a trait that makes the Grim Reaper have pity on his soul when he dies so that he can live to see another day. Then it just so happens that I am bored and the house was poorly built. How a virtual house is poorly built is beyond me, but I managed to do it. So, with a combination of all of these items, I was free to laugh at the face –or lack thereof –of death until I was purple in the face!

Oh my arsenal of inviting Death to dinner were unlimited, well that's a lie, but the imaginative qualities of my methods were unlimited. I could cheat and starve him. Though that in my mind looked more like a heart attack, needless to say I used this the most. Another death on the Sims 1000 Ways to Die was that I could put him in a pool and build walls around him, but I wasn't doing that. The deaths there aren't entertaining. The Sim just floats to the middle of the pool and then teleports beside it already dead.

No, the past two times I spent my time telling Light-Sim to light a fire in my cheap fireplace and then cheated so I could build the great wall of burning couches so he'd get all crispy and die, or I was setting a sprinkler off in the house -because everyone has one of those inside -and then breaking the TV and telling Light to fix it, ending again in death. That one was hilarious to watch, and in order to spare Task Force from another barf-sounding groan, I turned the sprinkler on.

"No Light, don't do that you'll die!" I exclaimed after I clicked on the "repair" command. Light-the real one-turned and looked at me like I was crazy. At this point it was a debatable fact that I was insane, but any argument I put forth would be pointless. I returned the glare and paused the game right before Sim Light committed suicide for the tenth time in fifteen minutes. "Not you, I mean Sim-Light, he's about to get electrocuted." I smiled and then turned toward the screen for a moment before adding, "again." I saw L turn to watch as I pressed "play" and watched at the screw driver into the TV and then the electric blue lines covered his body like wires as he fell to the ground, dead.

Nothing, not even a tickle in my tummy to suggest I was vaguely amused with this game. Looking at the screen and shaking my head in disappointment I pressed pause. Sorry Grimmy, you don't get to spare Light Yagami-Sim from death.

I groaned in boredom again as I spun around in my chair. This has to be getting on someone's nerves, I mean my voice is echoing off the walls it's so loud. The sound of someone standing up caused my arm to shoot up, holding my index finger to prevent Aizawa from opening his mouth and tell me to be quiet, or how I wasn't helping by killing Sim-Light. I heard his breath catch as I spun the chair to face him and I looked him in the eye. I shifted my position, which up until that point was me laying in the chair, into an upright position.

"Mr. Aizawa there have been thirty deaths within the last….thirty-one deaths in the last twenty-four hours," I said calmly, and matter-of-factly pausing to look at my watch, the hour passing in the middle of my sentence, "and I have read through all the files, minus one person because right about…..now his corpse has been found." I looked at the ceiling and nodded to confirm the time. "If you could give me a lead right now, I'd very much appreciate it, if not I shall continue to be bored, even killing Sim-Light has lost its luster." I frowned as I pressed play, watching the Sim Grim Reaper come and have pity on poor Sim-Light and brought him back to life.

I picked up a plum and scratched my ear, I was really unmotivated. I wasn't obsessed anymore. I wasn't staring down the real Light as I tried to get through his façade that wasn't a façade in the slightest but at the same time I knew he was Kira at one point.

Spinning in the chair I pulled out a deck of cards and shuffled them, making sure I didn't peek whatsoever. Photographic memory had its perks. Mathematically there was one in fifty-three chance of guessing which card was at the top of the deck. I kept a joker in the deck, wild card baby! Anyways, with my memory, I could replay how the cards shuffle, and could increase my chances. That's cheating though, and I am…I can't even say this in story form and not laugh. I'll admit it, I'm a big fat cheater when it comes to cards.

After I lost count on how many times I shuffled the cards, I turned my chair and dealt two hands, one for the depressed detective, and one for his depressed successor. No betting, just seeing who was better at cards, also I wanted to show people how Ebony plays the joker. It comes with a theme song, and the fact we were in Japan meant that someone else besides me would know the lyrics.

"Poker?" I asked as I moved a ten to sit next to the other one I had in my hand. L nodded and did the same, only I had no clue what his cards were. I mean I _could_ go through and try to guess what was in his hand, but that involves math and effort and I wasn't in the mood. Besides, we've been working for months, it was time for a break, time to recharge our batteries.

Watching Light as I lost the first hand, he typed on his computer. He had the most un-relaxing vacation out of everyone, yet he has been working for the past 11 hours, 45 minutes and 53 seconds. More time than everyone else present at this given moment. I turned my attention to the game, if he found something and reported it then that'd prove to me that we wouldn't have to worry about Light being Kira, for now.

"Ryuzaki," Light said after five or so hands, none of which I had won. I turned toward the brunette extremely interested knowing that he probably wasn't ever going to acknowledge me in anyway shape or form, "I know you're not feeling up to it, but come over here for a second." I rolled my eyes as rolled over in my chair, throwing my hands up yelling "wee" the whole nine yards. "Take a close look at this."

I blinked and looked at the screen, frowning. I thought I saw something about this, didn't think much of it because of my recent trend of failures. I really didn't want to add another one to it. Never the less, since Light saw noticed this too, this meant I should've actually looked into it. Dang it, I'm slipping more than I thought. All these guys CEO's or vice presidents that had the potential for being the next CEO's this of course pointed to a detail I hadn't noticed, and in result hadn't looked into. Only one company was left out of this trend, Yotsuba.

"In other words, their deaths have worked in Yotsuba's favor," Light finished narrowing his eyes. "Looking back there have been 13 similar deaths in the past three months." He then turned to L and asked for his thoughts. I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him. Granted I had just spent an hour laughing my butt off while I fixed his shower so he could get all pretty.

"I'm a genius too ya know. I think it's safe to assume that Kira is working _for_ Yotsuba, or is being paid by Yotsuba, why else would he kill in their favor? With that being said I we can all agree that this isn't the Kira we know and hate as well as what Ryuzaki said about how the power passes from person to person. This Kira is probably using the criminals' deaths as a ruse."

"Hmm yes. Ebony may be on to something, however I'm curious on how she missed such a vital detail." The two others in the room that could actually hear my thought filled depressed mumblings turned toward me and I scratched the back of my head as I walked away from the desk, my fingers interlaced within each other.

"Well, sure I've been reading all the dead people's files mainly because I don't want to spend forever and a day walking around doing nothing. I honestly have been too down to look past that." I turned around shrugged. "To be perfectly clear though, I have no interest in this Kira, you two can easily solve this without me." I pulled my chair back to my desk and paused, would I be sent some because of this?

I looked up at L and started to open my mouth, stopping short as a slight and short nod was given to me. Letting a small smile spread across my face I leaned back and let my eyes scan the security monitor wall above out heads, my eyes settling on the helicopters. I felt my eyes widen in admiration. Such beauty!

It was beautiful, sleek shiny. Man, I was sure it had that new helicopter smell. The only thing I wanted to do at that point was to sit in the seats, probably leather knowing L, and fly that thing until I was being yelled at to get more fuel. It was so beautiful! I had to fly it, but I needed a reason to. Well, I've never flown in a helicopter, and I should know how to, and L knew this. Maybe I could use this to my advantage. Also, you never know when a car chase requires a bird's eye view. Having someone else driving the helicopter will give L more brain capacity to think.

"Hey L, I kinda know how to fly a helicopter, could I take Watari out one day and test my knowledge? I'm 87% sure I won't crash," I said as I forced my eyes from the monitor and saved my Sim game so I could see if I could work on the case for an extended amount of time before getting bored. I have my money on five minutes. That shiny black majestic helicopter was just so beautiful! I almost wanted to cry.

"What makes you think he'll let you fly an expensive helicopter Ebony?" asked Light with a smirk as he leaned back and crossed his arms. Oh yeah, think you've got me don't you. I smirked back and started typing on my computer and pulled up Yotsuba's homepage, know thy enemy. I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes and chuckled.

"Simple, I've put in approximately thirty hours of video game simulation and I've also read 'How to Fly a Helicopter for Dummies.' It's actually not a bad read. Though, I wouldn't suggest it to you though Yagami, might be over your head," I shrugged and then added how I don't forget anything that I see. He rolled his eyes turning away, didn't think he'd give up so quickly. I then turned to L.

"If he has time. You do pose a valid point however; I would like to have an experienced flyer in case we needed to use those helicopters. It appears you'll have to be that person if you continue to show disinterest in this case," L said spinning in his chair and started typing. I smiled to myself, he was back. Now, back to my business at hand, Yotsuba and finding out why Kira to the third would want to help them, well besides money.

I clicked around for a while and stood up once I found a list of who was important within the company for a fruit run. A thinking girl's gotta eat. Plus, it'd be sad if all that fruit went to waste because my intake has decreased by 67% due to inactivity. Before I ousted my depression, I forced myself to think on trivial things just so I'd eat my regular amount.

Blueberries, strawberries and a banana filled my bowl as I spun in my chair for a brief second, putting a blueberry in my mouth before scrolling down the list, examining the pictures with extreme interest, who was the most greedy. A few people stood out to me, more than I had hoped. This was going to either a complicated plot by Light, Dark Light, not Light Light, or it Light was actually a puppet of Kira, and we've been chasing the wrong guy all this time.

Shingo Mido, Vice President of Corporate Strategy. It might be because his hair was styled a certain way, but if you took off his thin wired glasses he looked like Light. I glanced sideways as the other person to confirm this. Yup, it was Pretty Boy the Second. He seemed to have high aspirations and had what it took to accomplish them, he'd have no problem crushing people to rise higher in the ranks. The chances this man is Kira, was about 2%, but then again this may be caused by my hate toward Light, oh well. No one said I had to be professional now did they?

Kyosuke Higuchi, Head of Technology and Development. This guy needed to lay off the hair gel, it look like he was made in the fifties. Seriously, if I ever saw this guy in real life I'd snap off a piece of his hair and play darts with it or something. His eyes shone with greed, selfishness, and a touch of forcefulness. I narrowed my eyes, killing people to get ahead in the world, now that's what stands out in the characteristics of who this Kira was. 2.5% he was Kira. This was mainly because of the forcefulness, killing people is the only guarantee that nuisance would remain out of the way.

After those there were Arayoshi Hatori, a man who used the fact he was an illegitimate son of the president of the company to get ahead in life –blackmail apparently worked for this guy. Why didn't this work with Mello? That guy has become impervious to my antics it seems.

Then there was Suguru Shimura who is paranoid. Just going off of the paranoia, if I was killing people I'd be a little paranoid. The lack of guilt could mean that he was used to killing the people he was killing, or he had some parallel reality in his head he was using to justify his actions. This left the paranoid feeling of "am I going to get caught?" Both of these men were about 1% suspicion. I blinked four men, great.

Suspect wise, this was a lot better than what we ever had on the first Kira, and this was without even looking at business partners and other random things that tied into Yostuba. I mean, for all I know this new Kira could be some random billy-bob that was inhumanely loyal to the company. Granted, I didn't know, nor did I care at this point what this company did, and sure this was an extreme case, but I wasn't ruling anything out.

However, thirty minutes of research and I was bored. Well, I lasted longer that I thought I would, but a bored Ebony was no bueno. So, I turned my eyes toward Light and smirked. I wasn't giving up Mr. I'm-not-Kira. "Hey Light," I started dismissively, my tone relaxed. I saw Light turn toward me slightly, not tearing his eyes from the computer. "KIRASAYSWHAT?!" I yelled almost stumbling over the words and I spun my chair to face the brunette.

"What?" he asked slightly appalled, but very confused, actually turning his head toward me. I widened my eyes in fake shock and threw myself onto the back of the chair, making it slide a few feet. This made Light's face turn into one of extreme confusion as I broke down and laughed, hanging upside down in my chair.

"Ryuzaki can't we use that for a confession? Light, if you must know I said 'Kira says "what"' Not my fault you said 'what.'" I held up my hands in a "just saying" position palms up smile on my face. Light frowned and narrowed his eyes. Victory once again for Ebony, man I was on a roll, no wonder Light hated me. Triumphant smiles seemed to be my trademark now, taking my boredom out on Light was my outlet. Light was the new Mello, man I was a genius!

My eyes narrowed at the computer screen. The reflection showed Mr. Yagami and Mogi, both of them looking somber; no that's not the right word. They were troubled, maybe a little melancholy. The three of us –L, Light, and me -turned around met their eyes, Aizawa and Matsuda stopping what they were doing as well, lifting their heads in question.

A few seconds of silence passed, before it became overbearing. I focused on Mr. Yagami and asked him what was wrong, his eyes were morose, worry was a prominent feature in there. Something bad was happening, my gut was tying up on knots. I was pretty sure that we were going to lose someone. Personally I didn't think they were going to die, but our team was going to shrink again, and that meant that Kira –Light –had gotten another point. He wasn't going to win.

"The police caved into Kira," he said slowly his dark eyes looking at the ground. My heart sank, that support was gone. The name L had power, but nothing like the local police. I blinked and as everyone else, aside from L, gasped in shock. I turned toward the raven-haired man, nothing. He hadn't turned around, he was frowning slightly though, I suppose that's something. Though a part of me said that this wasn't the reason for the frown, if I looked into it it'd be suspicious. I had to continue to listen, maybe I can put these pieces together.

"Mogi has already made up his mind, but Aizawa, Matsuda if you still want to pursue Kira turn in your letters of resignation to the NPA with Mogi and me." An ultimatum, either give up on Kira, or you're fired. Just brushing this issue under the rug wasn't going to fix the problem, the police here were cowards. Hiding in the dark when the hero isn't living up to his name, makes me sick.

I shook my head as I sat on the desk, using my chair as a foot rest. My expression was blank, hiding my irritation inside. My blood was starting to boil. I wasn't particularly angry, just annoyed at this point.

This was a hard decision. Personally I didn't know where I'd be on this issue, but they didn't have to decide. When I was in England I saw a file on L's computer that heavily hinted on accounts set up with a steady stream of money going into them. There was one for every person on Task Force, and they were only 7 months old. This was after we had met these guys, so it made sense that these accounts were for them in case something like this should happen.

My eyes were drawn to Aizawa, he was stiff. I inhaled, and pushed off of the desk I was sitting on and put my hand on his shoulder. I opened my mouth to tell him the good news, but was cut off. "I think you should all remain police officers," began L still not looking at us. I frowned, the fact he was so perceptive was really annoying sometimes. "I was alone to begin with, and I'm grateful to all of you for sticking with me this far. But I can do this by myself. I'll visit you all at the police department and brink you Kira's head as a gift."

I stopped and turned to look over my shoulder. Blinking a few times, I turned toward the floor and clenched my fists, determined not to snap and yell at L. He was ruining everything at this point. Still, I knew what he was doing, he was testing everyone, again. Wasn't watching Ukita die enough? I know that not everyone remember it as vividly as I do, but they still remembered it, and they still knew the risks. They were willing to give up everything, it was in their eyes.

"L, shut-up," I said low, my voice sharp. To be expected everyone gasped at me. I looked around briefly, was I really the only one with the balls to talk to L like a person? To make matters more hilarious, I don't have balls to begin with. "We've been at this together for almost a year, and you want to play this game now? Sure yeah, I will admit you and all your prideful genius-ness can do this all by your big-boy self, but it will take how long? Let's not also forget that I and Light are here. You know how I am, I am not leaving here unless it's on my own accord, and there are only two reasons why I'd leave. If I am put off the case, you'll see just how much of a trouble maker I am, and yes that is a threat." The room wasn't silent for long, of course he'd have a rebuttal to my rampage.

"That's right, I'll have Ebony and Light working with me until I catch Kira." I locked my jaw and inhaled sharply I picked up an apple and bit into it while pacing, can't tell them, can't tell them. I was going to "pass" this test, but since when do I pay attention to rules? "But everyone else should remain police officers." He was adamant on this, him and his stupid tests. This isn't going to last long. I was going to snap at him.

"But you told us that you needed the help of the police in this case," interjected Mr. Yagami. I commented that by the look of it he didn't mind tossing those guys to the side just because they didn't have the title. Everyone just let me go on my tirade, completely ignoring me. Jerks.

"That's because the police as an organization, didn't bow to Kira and hoped to arrest him." I threw my apple core at the wall and gave L a warning look, I was about to spill the beans. Aizawa couldn't do it, he had a family. "I don't really think the help of two or three civilians who quit the police force can really count as the police." He took some cherries and stuck them in his mouth. "Also, the police have decided that they don't want to catch Kira, so that's enough." Don't open your mouth Ebony, just shut-up.

Nope, not going to, there was a loophole mainly for my rant, but hey he gave me the information. I walked toward Aizawa and looked up at him. "Mr. Aizawa, I know that we've had our ups and downs, I just want to say that whatever you decide you will be alright, trust me." I turned toward L. "You're unbelievable sometimes." I shook my head and narrowed my eyes.

"Ebony, what do you mean?" asked Matsuda, everyone turned toward me as I bowed my head, smirking. There was a warning from L, telling me that telling them what I knew would send me to England. I just chuckled.

"Go ahead, send me home, I don't care. This test is stupid. Besides, you have to get me to the airport first. I've watched someone play Grand Theft Auto, I know how to tuck and roll," I turned toward Aizawa, my eyes digging into his, my angered expression softening. "There is a savings account set up for everyone here in case something like this happened. I knew about it, but didn't say anything because I didn't think this would happen. Sorry Aizawa."

I watched as Aizawa's eyes widened in shock. He's had enough. He respected the detective, but he hated his methods, this was clear during our hotel hopping days. This was the last straw. We lost him, it was as simple as that.

"Don't worry Mr. Aizawa, I'll chew L out for you. I think going outside and cooling down would be a good idea," I said as I leaned my head back toward L. My brow furrowed as my thoughts changed languages, always a bad sign. "Can't you consider someone else's emotions for five minutes before you chose what to keep a secret?" My voice rose as I unconsciously switched languages. German always sounded angrier anyways.

L didn't react to my language change. He just sat there and stared at a computer screen, stirring a cup of tea in front of him. I narrowed my eyes, I knew he knew German, the financial report was in German, and not just any German, coded German.

"Don't ignore me L, I know you know German, it took me an entire night to decode that German. You are so thick headed! Sure you think before you act but you only act in interest to you! Do you see the determination in all their eyes L? Of course you fucking don't! You're too busy testing them!" My voice steadily rose, as Matsuda put a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw the confused and muted worry on his face.

I shrugged it off and continued my rant. "Aizawa hated Kira with a burning passion, Ukita was his goddamn friend and he died by Kira's fucking hand. If anyone here wanted to see Kira's head on a silver fucking platter is was him. And you chased him away with your secrets, what do you have to say for yourself?" I crossed my arms, the room completely silent minus the hum of computers.

"I have nothing to say about my actions. I do suggest that you go upstairs and cool off, play a game and talk to a friend," L replied monotonously in the same language as me. "I understand your frustration but we-"

"Oh frustration doesn't even begin to cover it! Panda-Man, you need to start being more honest. When you gave that speech at the orphanage about how you were a monster, I detested that statement. You are L, a detective, someone who pushes forth justice, how the fuck could you be a monster? Now I see it, you are a damn monster." I turned around sharply, shaking my head as I walked toward the elevator and pushed the up button.

"Sorry I exploded, and switched to German. I'll be in my room if you need me. Unless you're L or Light I should answer," I said in Japanese as the elevator doors opened. I needed a door to slam, I don't always get mad, but when I do I prefer Dos Equis. I don't drink it, just pose with it like the commercial. No, in all seriousness me angry to the point of cussing was more rare than seeing the Loch Ness Monster in California.

"Stupid L, Stupid secrets," I muttered under my breath, a slight feeling of relief washing over me. He didn't say one thing about sending me back to England, why? I mean other than the fact that I would disappear into the wilderness of Japan instead of going to the airport like a good person would, there had to be an alternative, L wouldn't give up to easily.

"Why am I thinking about this? I'm freaking mad at that d-bag!" I yelled as another voice questioned me. I jumped and turned toward the laptop I had plugged in, but left on from a few nights ago. I pushed the screen up and saw Matt's distracted face. How long was that Skype call on? Oh well, might as well answer him. "L's being unreasonable and normally I'd just close off the world and go into Ebony Land, but I'm sick of being depressed so I went off on him."

"Are you going to be sent home?" Matt asked from the laptop, his voice showing concern, hiding the slight sliver of hope that I'd be going home. He even turned away from the TV in his room to ask this. I shrugged and said I didn't stick around to find out, nor was I going to talk to him until I got an apology, only then will I apologize for cussing him out.

* * *

**I meant to get this out earlier, but something amazing happened. I started writing an original story and that took all of my attention as a writer, so I have been writing about two pages, and then I delete a good chunk of what I had just written. It's very frustrating, but that's only one reason why this has been delayed.**

**Russian, I have decided to learn Russian of all languages. I can read it, but when it comes to understanding it I just have the basics, like real basic. I can talk to a three year old, no I'd still get lost in conversation. Still, it's more Russian than most people I know. It helped inspire my original story too, go figure. **

**Either way I found time to actually edit this, and I actually paid attention and even though I was on page blah blah blah of the document I went back to a part I wasn't sure on. I feel proud of myself for being mature like that. **

**So Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting. Sorry I didn't put anything about the prank I PROMISE later there will be a full detailed explanation on what happened, just be patient there is a reason for it. **

**To Kashgal and Nature's Ruler:**

_**Pie:**__ Food? Gimme the phone Ebony or I'll take my pen out!_

_**Ebony:**__ NOT THE PEN! *gives phone* _

_**Pie:**__ Yellow? Yes I would like a cheeseburger, all the fruit you have in there, more fruit, and trust me I'll know if it's from the outside world or not, uhm some chips, salsa, and that'll be all ^.^_

_**Ebony:**__ I'm not sharing the fruit. *crosses arms*_

**To: Serialkillet567:**

_Alright, I really don't know how to respond to your "review" So, I'm going to just let you think you've won this round because, quite frankly, I don't have spiky hair so….HA! Victory for Pie!_


	24. Chapter 23 OHMIGOD!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, or anything else referenced. **

**Chapter Twenty-three OHMIGOD!**

"Ebony, would you please come into the main room, there is something you should hear," came L's voice from the intercom system that was installed throughout the building. I backed into the bushes and went prone, pausing for a few seconds to make sure I wasn't in danger of dying. The smile that was on my face disappeared in an instant, it's all fun and games until someone snaps you back to reality.

"What was that? I swear this intercom system is faulty or something," I said loudly with heavy sarcasm lacing my words. I rolled over to my stomach, lifting my legs up at the knee and crossing the ankles. It's been about a month, neither L nor I have said a word to one another, to be honest I was surprised he was even on the intercom system talking to me directly. "Either way, I guess I should go down stairs with the others to see what's going on." I made my character stand up after glaring at the camera in the corner of the room.

"Hey-o, Aka I gotta go, talk to ya later," I said into the microphone as the game finished. "Parents are still being a pain, don't they understand the fictional World War on this game is more important than whatever they are calling me down for?" Matt chuckled knowing exactly what I was trying to do. I'd do something similar at Wammy's when Mello was using us as study monkeys quizzing him even though neither one of us knew what he was studying.

"I highly doubt that Ebony, please just get down here, there isn't much time to waste," came L's voice again. I rolled my eyes and turned off the game system. Panda-eyes still owed me an apology, I wasn't going to be out-childish-ed. I know that's not a word sue me! My point still stands, I am more childish than L and I wasn't going to be stripped of my title. As far as I was concerned, he already lost by addressing me directly.

Crossing my arms in the elevator, I recapped the last month in my head. I had gotten some headway in tracking Naomi, though it was hardly a success. I managed to find her, January first she was here in Japan. Then by the third she was in America, New York specifically. The fifth, she was in Los Angeles. That's where the trail ended.

My discoveries were minor, a lot more has happened right in front of me. For starters, Matsuda, or Matsui as people in the "real world" called him, was dead. Fell off a balcony drunk while Misa-Misa was trying to woo Yotsuba into making her their spokes model. Yes Matsuda screwed up. Ninja skills he did not have, got caught while eavesdropping. It was fun watching L talk like a normal person for once though, I guess it wasn't a total loss. WAIT! I was mad at him at that point, I'm still waiting on an apology!

Through all of this, nobody knew I was secretly laughing at the entire situation, even mocked L in his "normal people" voice. I had locked myself in my room, using a laptop to keep track of what was going on. Watari hooked me up, gotta love that old man. Though, I was pretty sure L knew I had my own cameras and bugs in the room.

Anyways, we brought a con-man and a thief in Wedy and Aiber. The con-man Aiber, posed as Eraldo Coil, detective number two in the world. L was also Coil, but you didn't read that from me ok? Anyways, this happened, because the company in question wanted more information of the main force opposing the killings. Coil slash Aiber said that Misa was questioned by L and they made her their icon faster than Mello could pounce on a rouge chocolate bar.

Almost done here, I know recaps are lame. This one is distinctly lacking in the "Ebony awesomeness" category. Misa was then on a drive with a Kyosuke Higuchi, and he apparently said something interesting. Otherwise, I don't think I would've been called down, and it only meant one thing, we've found solid proof that someone was Kira. Finally after ten months, we had _a_ Kira. Might not be _the _Kira, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Alright _L_ I'm here, show me what proof we have that Higuchi is Kira and what plan you have. Throw in an apology too, you started my oath of silence," I muttered in Japanese as I took my seat, draping my legs over the armrest. I gained a lot of respect after I translated what I said to the detective, met up with Aizawa to tell him in person, he got a good kick out of it.

Misa stood proudly in the center of the room holding a cell phone and wore a maid outfit. Everyone was looking at her as her small index finger found the "play" button. "_And when you know I'm Kira, we'll get married_," came from the speakers, no doubt Higuchi. I smirked, alright for an annoying blonde, she did pull through for Light, and only Light. Seriously that's the only reason she helped, or it was a big part. What did I care, L put her up to it.

"Misa, how did you get Higuchi to say that?" asked Light curiously. Ah, there was the million dollar question. Crossing my arms, I tilted my head to show I was interested. I brought a grape to my mouth as L sipped his tea. Marriage was a big thing, I was almost sure it wasn't solely because Misa was "hot" there had to have been something that sweetened the deal.

"I told him that if he was Kira I'd marry him. He's totally in love with me and thinks I'm the Second Kira." Light then said she was stupid because we had instructed her not to say that, which we did. Why am I saying "we?" I said I did nothing and I meant it! All I did was read stuff and relay information.

"I suppose you could call this a victory, right Ebony?" I crossed my arms at L. Frowning, I know I have already broken my oath of silence, I still wasn't going to talk to him. He still lost the war, and I was under no obligation to break down and talk to him before I got the apology I deserved. So I spun in my chair sticking my tongue out. Like I said, no one can act more like a child when I'm in the competition.

"Right now, we don't know how he kills his victims do we?" asked Light, turning toward L, who agreed and said he wanted to know how he killed before catching him. I shook my head, I wasn't promoting we hurt people-goes against my morals-but I was also good at reading people, and if you psyche some people out they spill the beans. Delaying his capture would mean more people would die.

"Even though we don't know how he kills, Light, I'm sure an hour or two in a room with me he'll be telling us everything. I understand what _'the wind'_ said in reference to wanting to know the facts, I just think a more direct approach would reap better results." I leaned back and L pressed a button on his laptop, ordering Wedy to bug out our chief suspect's six cars. Sure, don't listen to me. Stupid "wind."

I tilted my head to the side as Misa looked nervous, I mean really nervous. Something was off, she did more during that meeting than what she was claiming she did. Higuchi didn't think that Misa was Kira-B, no that didn't make since compared to what Misa's behavior. The only thing that made since to me, is that Misa said she was the second Kira and then proved it, but how?

Sighing and shaking my head, I turned back toward the computer screen in front of me. I guess it doesn't matter at this point, once we find out how Kira kills we can go from there, I still think that Light was Kira, the memory lapse was still bugging me, as well as the possibility of a Death God being real. I turned toward L slightly, I am not going to share this. I didn't have proof, it was just a hunch.

"Ebony," I turned toward L raising my eyebrows, the air was tense as everyone in the room turned toward the two of us. "It's almost been a month, and it's apparent to me that I'm not going to get any information from you, so for the interest of knowing what you're thinking about this situation, I apologize for keeping the trust fund situation from Task Force members." I blinked a few times and let a small smile spread across my face.

I won! In your face L! Inside, I was partying like an animal, balloons, piñatas, the whole ten yards. Task Force looked at me, no doubt expecting me to stand up on the chair, gloat, start dancing, and then the chair would slip out from under me. Ebony likes to defy expectations though, so time to put my mature pants on.

"I'm sorry for yelling, there was a more mature way to deal with that situation. With that being said, Misa what do you think about Shinigami?" Her eyes widened as she took a step back. Exactly what I needed, but not enough to sell me, but it was looking good for my theories made all that time ago. Covering my mouth I looked at my computer screen.

"Misa knows something about Shinigami," I started in German, "Might've got in contact with one, doesn't explain how she is still alive if this is true. Also, she's acting nervous, probably _told_ Higuchi she was Kira-B and then used the found a way to prove it. This of course points to Shinigami. How she is alive if she saw it is beyond me. Maybe there is a way for the death gods to communicate with humans without making us see them. We of course have no proof, so it's best to keep this to ourselves." L slightly nodded in response.

"Light, sorry for coming back to this topic, but I have to ask again," said L as I sat back visibly relaxing, knowing exactly where he was going with this. He was talking to Light. Sure L had one tone of voice –monotone –but still I could tell that his tone suggested that he was going back to the subject of Mr. Perfect being Kira. "Do you remember how to kill?" Atomic bomb equals dropped. Cue explosion noises.

The room was again tense, L had turned his head to look at Light who looked completely and utterly shocked. I sighed and rocked the chair back, running my hand through my hair. "We're not saying you're Kira directly, but the question should be answered, it makes all the difference on how this will be dealt with," I said letting my hair fall into my face. Both Misa and Light said they didn't know how Kira kills, how could they? As for how this would be dealt, if they prove once again that they have no memory of being Kira, then we go in stealthily, rendering my "plan" useless.

"Light, please seriously analyze and deduce what I'm going to say," said L. I forced myself to look at the brunette and "analyze and deduce" what his expression reveled. "Light Yagami was Kira, and Kira's power was passed on to someone else. Right now, Light Yagami doesn't remember he was Kira. Give me your thoughts based on this premise. Can you think about it that way?" Long story short, it was Light's decision, "hypothetically" that determined where the power of Kira went; it was his decision that cleaned his memory and took the power away.

Task Force sighed in relief after L looked satisfied with Light's answer. I turned toward the rest of them and scratched the crown of my head. Focusing on Mr. Yagami, knowing if I reasoned with him, the others would follow I sighed and turned to the computer screen for a second and then back at the older man.

"With that being said, we're going to have to create a situation Yotsuba Kira can't use the same method Light did. We make him panic, that's the easiest way to cloud his thoughts, he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, we can use our pawn and get him to watch Sakura TV where we 'reveal' who Kira is, he panics and probably tries to run and then we chase him down. I call helicopter!" I shot my hand up and sat on the chair on my knees.

There was more banter on how this was exactly going to happen, mainly narrated by Light, L, and myself. Matsuda was going to be behind a screen vaguely trying to buy time until the screen protecting his identity falls and then Higuchi will then panic and we'll attack like ants at a buffet. There was a possibility that he could have the same face-only killing ability like the second Kira, and if that were to be the case Matsuda would die, however he was still alive so everyone highly doubts that.

"I don't need two or three days, I'll do it!" proclaimed the one who was putting his life on the line. I smiled and nodded, turning toward L who handed me a small pastry, I ate it and turned to my monitor, so much to do, so little time.

I smiled as my stomach turned in knots, everything was going as planned, Higuchi was panicking, calling anyone he could think of to find out who Matsui really was. I tossed the keys in the air as he started yelling into the phone, not getting anywhere because nobody knew his real name. The offer of telling the oh-so desperate soul where the personal files of Matsui was exchanged, security codes and all took place. Hook, line, and sinker.

I jingled the helicopter keys, and rocked back in the computer chair I was sitting in. I remember how to fly, sorta. I was positive it was enough to, well not crash. Maybe I shouldn't have bragged about knowing…ah who am I kidding I should remember when the adrenaline started flowing, that's how all action movies work. What could possibly go wrong? Don't answer that, a minor is going to be behind the controls of a helicopter, everything could go wrong.

"…he's only got a bag on him, I'm going after him," came Wedy's voice, he was on the move, we had to start getting ready. He could kill with just a name and face, he had the face and now all he needed was a name. Sure he wasn't going to find the name he needed, he was still going to try. Nothing was really happening though, and it was killing me!

"Rem, what do you think?" asked Higuchi. My eyes widened, as my fleet slipped off of the desk, the chair I was sitting in returning upright. No wait a second, he was alone, who was this Rem? Shinigami? Really? I was right this entire time, it can't be? I've always doubted these ideas, they were too farfetched. Either this guy had an imaginary friend, or Shinigami were real. _L, did you know gods of death love apples? We will reveal our shinigami. _Assuming that, how is he alive? Aren't people supposed to die when they saw a death god?

"Shini-ga-mi," I mumbled as Light stood up questioning who Rem was. The uneasiness of my stomach only got worse. My head immediately referenced the psychology textbook in my head. He was showing signs of Schizophrenia, as well as an unhealthy level of stress. This was obvious, and also not the answer. My gut feeling protested against the idea.

I looked up as Higuchi ran in a heated panic into the building I wished we were going to trap him in. I blinked as he found the file he was looking for and opened his bag, what was he doing? I stood up getting a closer look at the screen, and frowned as he wrote the name on the file down in a notebook. He walked to his car demonstrating the three C's. Calm, cool, and collected, why so soon, he just…..

I stared at the desk in front of me. He walks –no runs –into the office building panicked, finds Matsuda's fake file, writes a name down, and then walks out completely and utterly calm to watch TV in his expensive sports car. Had he only wanted to get Matsuda's name so he could kill him later? No, that's ridiculous, he wanted –no needed –Matsuda dead now, so why was he so calm?

"Damn he won't die!" yelled the frustrated man. We were all taken surprise, he already tried to kill Matsuda. _All Kira needs is a face and a name. _He had the name, and the face, they have to be combined somehow, all he did was write the name down, wait what if it was the notebook? I froze up and shook my head slowly. It couldn't be.

"Was writing his name all he needed to do to kill?" asked L as I stood there stiff as a board, all he did was write his name down. Wait, names equal faces and when I think of a name a face flashes through my mind, regardless of what I do with the name, think about it, write it down, draw the face. Therefore, writing it down is all he needs. No normal human could do this, there must be a medium. Using just any old sheet of paper didn't seem likely, though at this point with Rem the imaginary friend I wasn't about to out rule it. Still this thought ramble didn't stop my mouth.

"The notebook!" I yelled raising my head in alarm and revelation. "He writes the name down, and when you think of a name you see a face in your mind, right?" Everyone looked at me and thought about it. "So by writing his name down he probably was watching Matsuda die in his head, seeing his face as life escapes it, so that explains-"

"Rem, let's make the deal," said Higuchi sweat seen glistening off of his forehead. My heart started hammering in my chest, what deal? My stomach dropped, this was bad every ounce of my being wanted to get there now and stop this deal. What was this deal anyways? This was bad, oh so very, very bad.

"We need to go, _now_ Ryuzaki!" I said emphasizing the urgency. As I started to turn toward the elevator, only to be caught off by hearing my own name. We could always solve this issue later, like in an interrogation cell with cameras and bland colored walls. That sounds like that was the perfect time. I know those rooms were in here somewhere. I've looked at the security cameras.

"We won't know what deal this is if you go and act rash, it could ruin our chances of finding out. Right now sitting and waiting is our best option," he mumbled as a car chase started, I wanted to raise an eyebrow, but I sadly don't have that ability to I just crossed my arms and gave him the "really?" look.

I started pacing, not paying much attention as reports from the police came in from a motorcycle cop stopping Higuchi. No, I was too busy trying to figure out what that deal was. Also, why wait until now to make it? If it was something that would be a benefit to being Kira, why hold out on it?

"Higuchi ditched the motorcycle cop and is escaping," yelled Mogi as the red car sped away, well we're screwed unless you put Ebony behind helicopter controls, come-on people! I started pacing faster and looked up as Mogi said the motorcycle cop crashed. Was this enough to get us in the field?

"This is bad," said L quietly, almost too quietly to be heard. The deal, could that be the eyes? There was more pacing from me as I tried to keep from screaming, or punching and breaking something, I was losing my small amount of patience. "Everyone! It's too dangerous to let Higuchi alone any longer. We will proceed to capture him." I stopped dead in my tracks as the newest development was relayed.

"I'll go get my baby ready, it's time for my memory to really be tested, it's been a few years since I've read that book," I said as I ran to the elevator and mashed the buttons as my anxiety started mounting. _Keep your face covered._ Never has an elevator ride been so slow! Running up twenty or so flights of stairs at this point was sounding like a better option than walking the perimeter of the small space.

I jumped into the cockpit and adjusted my seat, trying to remember where the key went, and then which button to press after that. I pounded my head a few times, come-on memory don't fail me now! I froze as pages upon pages flashed through my head how to fly, basic maneuvers, what do to if one of the blades snaps. It all came to me, just as if I read it yesterday.

I smiled and turned the machine on and looked at all the dials and made sure the vessel was ready for air travel. It was, alright, ready for whatever was to come, assuming I could pilot straight. A small LCD screen powered on, it was mapping out where that car was going, quickest way was to fly above the city, but then we wouldn't have a visual.

"Go!" ordered L as he, Light, and Watari piled into the helicopter. I nodded and started the blades, pulling down the microphone from the headset on my head. I looked at the tiny screen just right of the steer control and frowned, he was going toward Sakura TV. I pulled back on the main control with my right hand and switched on everyone's headsets and stabilized the vessel.

Looking at the screen I frowned, he turned down another street. Where the fuck was he going? I started mumbling under my breath, trying to figure out where would be the best point to intercept him. Stupid screen was too small to draw a conclusion, but normal people didn't looked at maps for fun and memorize them. Too bad remembering how to fly a two-ton hunk of metal took most of my attention.

"He's not going to Sakura TV, I'm going to fly over all the buildings I can. We won't have a good view but we'll get there faster, I can adjust the altitude as we go," I said as I steered the helicopter forward. "This is also my first time flying, so let's hope I don't crash." I said with a smile. My chair slightly jerked forward, Light apparently hated this detail. "Hey! Don't make me turn this thing around back there!"

"It appears as if he's going toward Yotsuba," commented L as I changed my course, we were going to cut him off. Car versus helicopter, I am pretty sure the thing that flies will win. Light was again not too happy with my sharp turn, but he's not the one flying was he? I turned back for a second and warned him that he better not puke on me, this was a brand new helicopter, it'd be hell to resell this thing with the report of "Kira puke" in the back. I mean seriously.

"Turn back, and go toward Sakura TV, we won't make it!" called Light, I locked my jaw and straightened the small flying vessel, lowering it as I followed his order. Make up your mind people, I am not a helicopter monkey. I lowered my head slightly, looking through my hair as I reached down, turning on the search light, it's not like they didn't know some vessel was flying. L probably alerted the police. I pushed the helicopter to go faster, playing with some of the dials, might not know what they did, but I knew they were important.

I stayed on my course as I assumed Mr. Yagami and Wedy tried to stop Higuchi. Don't die on me, please. I might not know Wedy, but I shared mutual respect for the father. I'm not sure when I gained his respect, maybe it was the fact I was introduced with L, but one time he told Aizawa to stop belittling me at one of our first meetings. Afro-man wasn't saying anything but his expression showed that he didn't like me. Mr. Yagami pulled him aside and talked to him, unaware that I had followed in the air vent.

I jerked my hand as I stiffened for no reason, why? Something is happening and I needed to know, something is up. I heard some clicks, sharp precise. Oh god, I know that sound, or I think I know that sound. "What's happening on your end Mogi?" I asked urgently, jerking my hand panicking slightly as I prevented a very, very bad crash.

I exhaled as my blood ran cold. I shook my head, trying to keep focused. My hand wrapped around tighter against the leather, my breath forced, yet it was still even. Shaking my head slightly the slight static of the headset cleared Mogi finally able to answer the question.

"Higuchi has a gun! The chief has been shot," reported Mogi's voice. I turned my head to the side slightly and locked my jaw. I was right. Why did I have to be right? I guess there is no mistaking the sharp sounds of a gun. "Higuchi is making an escape." The chief apologized, not necessary, but whatever, we had bigger things to worry about.

"Dammit!" I muttered, turning another switch, you're not getting away from me. I will chase you to all ends of the Earth and you will pay for your crimes. No, this was worse now, Higuchi you're going to be chased all the way to Hell if I get my way. Man, this was so much more interesting than "studying" for a test. Matt is going to be so jealous.

"This is bad, he's escaped from Sakura TV!" reported Light. I shook my head as I checked the dials again, still good on everything. I heard a gun being moved and I turned slightly toward L as he tried to hand it to Light. I was instructed to chase, best words ever. A smirk spread against my lips as I slightly bowed my head.

I switched a few things off, one thing on and pushed the helicopter to go as fast as I could make it. Leaning to my left, I smirked, there you guys were. I was starting to miss you crazy ex-cops. I turned the intensity of the beam under the main body of the helicopter up higher than it was, blinding him would be dangerous, but it was going to be worth it.

I slowed down and looked out of my window, the police cars came into view. That means…Aizawa! Those tabs I've been forwarding to him paid off. He actually came. Not only that, but those cops who were forced to drop the Kira case had also joined him. So we literally had an army. Go us!

I chuckled and played a little bit with the frequency of my microphone to match the ones of the police. I then distorted it by messing with one of the dials on the headset. For once L's need to always be in contact with someone was paying off. "Mr. Aizawa, it's good to know there's no hard feelings between you and us. Everyone else let me introduce myself I am E. I thank you for the support, the man in the car is in fact a Kira. Keep calm and don't let him see your face. Though I'm sure Aizawa has relayed this already."

The red sports car Higuchi was driving screeched to a halt. He was cornered, the only way out was to go back the way he came, not the best idea. There was a helicopter coming from that general direction. The barricade worked though, I had to give the cops their props.

I brought the helicopter forward and steadied it, shining the light on the red car. Again, he tried to escape. Watari shot his tires, he spun out and hit the concrete barricade. It was over, if he was smart, he'd give up. He was boxed in, by the cops, again he took the spotlight. Watari let another shot out, shooting the gun from Higuchi's hand. Who knew the old man still had it in him?

"It's over," mumbled Light looking at the car.

"Yes it is," said L in response.

"Finally," I added as I bit my bottom lip, now how does he kill? I leaned back, unaware I was almost sitting on the control shift thing. I watched as Mogi and Mr. Yagami got out of the car they were riding in and carefully walked over with their face covered.

"Higuchi, put your hands up and get out of the car," ordered Mr. Yagami. There were a nice handful of men covering him, not to mention Watari, but if he shot than everyone else would shoot and we'd have no answers. There was a headset placed on his head and I looked at L, who nodded. I returned it and took a deep breath.

"Higuchi, enlighten me, how do you kill people?" I asked using every ounce of innocence I had and let it spill into my voice. I knew he would see through this. Still, I was a child technically, people are either more likely to tell a child something if the child can convince the adult they can understand, but they are also more likely to sugarcoat it. I hoped my "adult" vocabulary convinced him of the former.

"We will use any means necessary to make you tell us," added L. I gulped and watched as the proud man lowered his chin. I sat back and held my breath, really? It all came down to this how he killed. I was right, the direct approach was the best one for this situation. I mean I've had a lot of time to think about this, it's not like I was working toward finding him.

"The notebook," he said I chocked on my own spit and coughed while pounding my chest, no freaking way! I was right, this- how- OMIGOD! I felt Light and L glance at me, I was right! I was just yelling out what I thought, but that sentence was right. That's all that mattered. "You may not believe me, but if I write the name of someone whose face I know in that notebook, that person dies."

I watched as the chief picked up what looks like an ordinary notebook, according to him. He flipped through the pages and then screamed and fell to his knees. Even from the plane I saw that he was trembling.

I reacted, when don't I right? I pulled a helmet from the back and put it on, putting L's hands at the controls. Holding out my hand I felt cold plastic touch my skin. Looking at the black gun I inhaled slowly. I wasn't going to shoot, not ever in a million years.

I kept my head down as I crossed the roadway. Risks are made to be taken. This was going to be my biggest risk to date. I mean, if I'm destined to die, I might as well go out with a bang. Face to face with _a_ Kira. I'll find a way to tell Light what I really thought of him. Besides, if I die Matt is going to yell at me like there is no tomorrow.

"What happened?" I asked as I picked up the notebook, keeling on the concrete next to the chief. Everyone else focused on the chief as I flipped through the book, following Mr. Yagami's finger as he pointed to what looked like a mummy with longer arms and legs, hip bones protruding to the extreme. One eye was covered. It was also more skeletal, than normal, vertebra sticking out clear as day. She-I think- was hunched over like L. The one eye showing was one that resembled a snake.

"Ryuzaki, we have a creepy monster. Uh, no offence Rem I presume?" I asked toward the monster thing my voice even and calm. I felt someone else grab hold of the notebook, and he screamed; it was Mogi. Taking the notebook back, I tilted my head to the side and read the first few names in the notebook. "Higuchi was right, the names written here are ones of criminals, ones that have died recently at that."

I turned and walked calmly toward the helicopter, climbing back in and handing Panda-man the notebook. He took it in his fingers and slowly turned toward the monster, his eyes widening in calculating shock. "Is this a Shinigami? They….really….do….exist," whispered L in disbelief.

"It seems that way," I whispered back waving at the being, might as well be friendly. Two theories at once, I needed to know the specifics, this was overwhelming, though there is one thing I can say for certain, there are two notebooks. They belonged to I'm-a-gay, and I'm-in-love-with-Kira.

Looking up I watched as the notebook was passed to Light. I turned and focused back on the monster, the look of sheer terror on Light's face –as good as it sounds –wasn't what I was in the mood to be watching.

I jumped as Light yelled. "What the hell?" I leaned forward and narrowed my eyes as I watched Light.

The scream, it wasn't terror filled and sudden. His eyes were wide, I'll give them that, but they weren't focused on the being. No, the scream had more depth, his eyes were narrowed slightly and his knuckles were white. Light was in pain.

Something was wrong, I wasn't in pain, neither was L. I watched in horror as the dark cloud reentered his eyes, my lips parting in horror. This goes back what we had thought from the beginning, Light Yagami was Kira. If this doesn't prove it, I know what will, Shinigami. L leaned forward as Light's hair fell in front of his face. Kira was back, and I was not going to let him out of my sight, he was going to screw up.

"Are…are you alright? Anyone could be surprised by that monster," L said still in shock as I shook my head and mouthed the word "pain" in English, knowing he would catch on. Light started saying he was going to try to match the names with victims and I put my hand on his shoulder. My face showed no emotion as our eyes met.

Dark, mudded, evil, his eyes were worse than I what I remembered. How did that happen? He's been a model citizen and detective ever since we've let him out. There was no detection that suggested that he was trying to sabotage or holding back what he thought. He was planning something though. That's what really bugged me.

"Not needed Light, they match, every single one of them. That notebook belonged to Kira number three." I took a mirror out from my pocket - I was planning on setting something on fire using this thing, don't judge -and used the reflective glass to see Light's smirk. My eyes widened, malicious, arrogant, cold, calculating, it was all back. I sat back as he messed with his watch, what was he doing?

Turning my head away from Light, I frowned in confusion. He was acting calm, and he had the look of confidence, and with his returned…..**no.** My eyes widened at this new revelation, but who? Who was he killing? Also, how was he killing, I didn't see him open the notebook. Wait, the watch! He had a hidden piece, god-dammit!

"Ebony, what are you doing?" called L as I jumped out of the helicopter and scanned the scene, the attention of everyone who had audio contact with the helicopter looking at me. This caused the other people to look at me in turn. In short, I was the center of attention as I looked at everyone in the eye. My hair blew off of my shoulders as I scanned the road again.

All of these people were after Light, however he only had a small slip of paper. Light was also Kira, so that meant that the virtues of that murderer had to be accounted for. Kira killed people who committed crimes. That meant that Higuchi was the most likely target.

No, there was another reason for Light to kill him. I lowered my head and slightly turned toward the plane, Light's face completely blank. His eyes though, they were smirking for him. He didn't think I was going to figure it out. No…that wasn't it. My god, there was nothing I could do to save him. How much time has it been since he wrote the name?

"Higuchi!" I said calmly, quietly into the microphone. Even I couldn't hear my voice. Bowing my head to obscure my eyes, I clenched my fists. It was as if I was surrounded in my own realm of darkness at that moment. I take that back, I had some company. L stood to my right, thumb in his mouth, and directly between us was the ever cocky Light Yagami.

In my mental realm, I slowly I turned around, my steps echoing, taking in the fact that both L and I had a light blue hue, and Light a red. My eyes were filled with disgust as my physical nails dug into my skin back in reality. "Stop. Higuchi is dying, there is no telling how much time is left. He was Kira, there is undeniable proof to that. The _Real_ Kira is back, and he is making his stand now."

Back in the silent plane, Light and I locked eyes. He was challenging me, and I was meeting that challenge. Neither one of us paying much attention to the real detective here, my mentor and friend, both solely focused on the other. Hatred radiated from both of us.

No one noticed how L's hue was slowly turning to grey. The spiky-haired individual bowed his head, as the blue was almost completely out. Something that looked like dust blew in, Watari's figure formed, no hue, already grey. L turned slightly toward the older man and started walking toward me.

Light dissolved as L stopped walking right beside me, almost all color was drained from his figure. I reached out to touch him, noticing his figure was slumped over more than usual, something was off. Something didn't add up. The guy avoided my hand, as he continued walking.

I turned and watched him disappear. Opening my mouth I called out to him, my voice echoing off of unseen walls. L didn't stop, he just continued walking. I tried to run after him, but I was stuck. He was gone before too long. Then, an overwhelming feeling of loneliness overcame me.

Higuchi's blood chilling scream snapped me back to reality. The man clutched his chest the best he could with handcuffs as his legs gave out. A mixture of reactions took place, some tried to help Higuchi, and some looked at me.

I bowed my head and walked back to the helicopter, taking a seat in the back and hugged my knees, glaring at the back of Light's head. My hands held onto my jeans, my knuckles white. I laid my cheek on my knees and shook my head slightly. My thoughts in a jumbled mess.

"Ebony, are you alright?" asked Watari putting a hand on my shoulder. Lifting my head, I looked him in his eyes and saw the amount of concern in them. Turning slightly I used the window next to Light to see L's blank face, his jaw slightly locked. Something was bothering him.

"…I don't know Watari, I don't know," I responded quietly.

* * *

**I love this chapter, the chapter title is my favorite thus far. Mainly because Ebony is too calm, but hey it's Ebony, she typically doesn't act how people expect her to. It's why I love her character. **

**So, the reaction I got for the lack of results of Light's prank were like "RAWR I WANNA KNOW!" Ok, that's my reaction too when I didn't write it. I am saving it for later, a lot later. Sorry, but I never said that if you begged and pleaded I wouldn't let you read the un-edited version. I already have some things I'm going to be adding. **

**As always thanks for reading, reviewing, alerting, favoriting. Seriously, you guys rock. I probably would've been happy with the rough draft if it wasn't for you guys. And lemme say this, the draft sometimes burns my eyes when I go and read it. **

**To Kashgal and Nature's Ruler: **

_**Ebony: **__thaf waf weird._

_**Matt: **__Not with your mouth full._

_**Ebony: **__That was weird_. Happy?

_**Matt:**__ ….yup :D_

_**Mello: **__What took you guys so long? I almost fucking died!_

_**Pie:**__ Ohh, but you didn't. We'd never let you die Mello. _


	25. Chapter 24 Alright, I'll do it

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or anything else mentioned here.**

**Warning: I decided to play with emotions for this chapter…sorry…**

**Chapter Twenty-Four I'll do it **

_Be careful what you do, 'cause god is watching your every move.  
Hold my hand in the dark street, for if you do I know that I'll be safe.  
Even if I'm far away and alone, I can be sure you will find me there. This I know.  
You draw me close for a while, so quiet. You tell me everything.  
If I forget what you say, then you come to me and tell me again. Yes you tell me once again.  
But what happens when, I know it all then what should I do after that? What then?  
-Misa's Song _

"_Ebony, you've gotten too far in this," said a disembodied voice. My heart was racing, as I turned around in a panic. The step taken to get a better look over my shoulder echoed as I realized I was back in the void that I in while we caught Higuchi. The air was cold this time, a malicious feel was in the air. _

_A chuckle passed through the air, the resonance of that sound overtaking the one of my light footstep. I knew that voice, but it was malevolent, dark, and a little deeper. It couldn't be him, could it? I turned toward the ground, trying to think things out. _

_Grass appeared around me, the air still cold, but a slight breeze blew through. I turned toward it and narrowed my eyes, were those rocks? Looking around, seeing nothing else I walked toward them my steps slow and uneven as I looked at the grey pieces of stone in curiosity. Once I got there, my heart stopped, and my eyes widened._

_Gravestones. Those things were gravestones. Not just any old gravestones that have names and a saying that was either cliché, or significant to the family. No, these were completely unmarked, the soil newly turned. Another breeze blew through, this one smelling of freshly baked cake._

_A shadow appeared behind me, no two of them. I watched in horror as the shadow continued to multiply, people of different sizes and no doubt ages started to surround me, the grass turning black. I didn't dare turn around, I knew what I'd find and I'd rather speculate on my killer rather than to turn around and face him as he laughs at my fearful face. _

_A sharp pain was felt in my back, and then another, and another. I was being stabbed repeatedly, yet I felt no pain, no blood. The fear I thought I was going to feel, nonexistent, but they still carried on. I fell to my knees, and then my chest hit the grass. Darkness surrounded my vision, my heart started to hiccup. _

I sat up sharply, my hair falling over my shoulders, my eyes wide in shock. I…was asleep? I looked around me, the hum of computers heard still playing off their monotone tune. The lights were off, and the only light produced, radiated from a single computer with a shadow figure crouching in front of it.

L spun around in his chair, a laptop on the desk in front of him. The shadows on his face from the white screen made it hard to tell his expression, but it wasn't his normal staid expression. He looked, sad? Yeah, it was sadness I saw in his eyes. Why could he be sad? Technically we had one up on Kira, right? No there was something more, and I think it had to do with my dream thingy. If there was any better time to tell him these things, it was in the middle of the night when everyone is gone or asleep.

"Ryuzaki," I said quietly looking at the Death Note on the table in front of me. I picked it up and flipped through the pages again, giving my hands something to do. "When Higuchi died…something else happened and it got me thinking about a few things." This got L's attention, he spun around in his chair, completely facing me now, and put his thumb in his mouth curious. I looked at the back of the front cover, rule three. _If a cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name it will happen._ "I zoned out, that much was obvious, but it wasn't in thought. It more-or-less was a dream. I won't go into details," I shook my head pausing, pulling my knees to my chest as I read some of the names in the notebook, "but in it, you….I think my unconscious –if you believe in Freud's psychoanalytic theories –was trying to tell me that you were going to…die."

He was speechless for a while. I hugged my legs tighter, still flipping through the book. There were some pages ripped out, if this had belonged to either of the first two Kira's there was no handwriting samples that could be used. I put the book on the table in front of me, this futile attempt to distract me was pointless. Lifting my head toward him I blinked a few times, trying to read his expression. I understood if he didn't believe me, I mean I hardly believed it myself.

"Are you sure this happened?" I nodded and loosely described what happened to him, his color draining and then walking off with Watari. Keeping the fact Light was there was just because I didn't care about that. I was almost positive he was Kira, I was more worried about L's fate.

"I see. Ebony, would you do me a favor?" I looked up at L, raising both of my eyebrows, the sad note in his eyes was worse, deeper. "I want you to read everything on this laptop, just in case as quickly as possible." I was handed a silver laptop, the one he was just using. Now I was confused, I opened my mouth to ask him what was going on. "Just trust me Ebony."

"I do, I proved that months ago. L, what's wrong. You've been acting depressed. It's a different kind of depressed, more… melancholy." Searching through his eyes again, the detective turned away from me. I opened the laptop and scrolled through the files, I had my work cut out for me. Exhaling loudly, I opened one of the first files and started reading, I was going to need some coffee.

"It doesn't matter," He said after a while. I looked up after I finished my sentence and frowned. I shook my head, I didn't believe him. "I don't think this is over." So, that's how he's going to be playing it. Still holding things back, I just told him one of the craziest things I've said, and that's saying something, the least he could do is tell me what was wrong.

"At this rate, it probably won't be over." I looked back down and continued reading the file, there was only about a thousand in here. This was going to take me a week if I didn't sleep at all. I might be good at multitasking, but this was going to end up taking every ounce of concentration I had.

"I want you to be the next L." My head shot up, this again? I told him my thoughts on this. I simply didn't want, nor did I believe I'd be cut out from the job. I pushed my hair behind my ears and asked for a more in depth reason, turning back to the laptop screen. Silence filled the room, L giving nothing for me to work with.

I reiterated my thoughts on being his successor, pointing out that I simply didn't want the job and I didn't care to ever be associated with him at all. For all I cared, he could've kept every penny from this investigation.

After my calm explanation, he finally said something. "That's one of the reasons why, you're not trying. You're simply looking at this experience as something new to experience, as well as an opportunity to be completely selfless and to help people. It's actually quite admirable."

"No, I can't. It's not me. I am the goofball, and pest, I can't take the serious position on being L. I just can't. Only you can be L, and I will stand by this point. I don't plan on continuing my detective 'career' after this. You're not going to die." I closed my eyes and shook my head. "No!" I said standing, cue impulsive rant. "Not after all we've been through. I mean, come-on L face it if I was on this case alone who knows what I'd do, much less if you were to die at this point. I wouldn't be able to finish, I'd be an emotional train wreck, and worse of all I would be bringing Mello, Near, and Matt into this hell.

"I'll be alone again, cold again. I-I don't want to go back to that depression, I don't want to go back to the nightmare. I just can't. L don't die, I don't care how low you have to go, I don't _care_ what lies you have to make. I don't even _care_ about what you tell me to ensure you survive, but please. Just…just live." I bowed my head, covering my face as tears rolled down my face. Memories flooded my head, years of information revealing itself in a matter of seconds.

He just looked at me as I stood there numbly. No, he couldn't die. I mean sure his life was going to end eventually, but that wasn't supposed to happen until he's older than Watari. In simple terms not for a long, long, time. Then it'd be too late for me to carry on his name, I'd be too old too.

The old man came in pushing a cart filled with a mixture of sweets and fruit. L and I both turned to look at him. I forced a smile, using my hair to cover my eyes slightly so they wouldn't betray my true feelings. I clenched my fists behind my back, trying my best from preventing a memory overload. I took my seat slowly, looking at the waxed floor, like they held all the answers.

"Losing one's parents is one of the most traumatizing experiences a child can have. You've gone through that, Ebony," L said as Watari handed me a bowl of mixed fruit. I took it with a nod, "I don't see why you're so adamant on me living." I hugged my knees and looked at the laptop screen.

My parents, I didn't remember much about them. I was 5 when they died. I remember their deaths, and I had a few significant memories still locked away in my head, but I didn't know _who_ they were. I only knew I called them "mommy" and "daddy" and what they looked like. Once I got better at reading lips I figured out how they worded things, their actual voices were lost on me.

So, it'd make sense that I wasn't too attached to them at this point in my life right? That whatever bond we had would've faded during that time of depression. That the bond I was supposed to have found someone else and attached itself to someone else was expected now right? So, if I'm right, that bond was with L. Why?

L was a callous individual that pushed people back and lied to them religiously. Yet, I couldn't deny that I looked up to him like all other Wammy kids –aside from B. Still, I looked up to him to make sure I was doing this detective thing right, and through the late nights we've had, I think I've gotten close to getting through that shell of his. To be honest, L was probably one of the people who actually could see through me and knew my motives for being me.

My antics, the pranks, I guess to put it simply was a call for attention. Once my parents and sister died, I was alone. Once I arrived at the first orphanage I was sent to, no one really talked to me. Well, they tried, but I looked them in the eyes and said what I saw, scared them off. No one wanted to approach me, unless it was for a dare. No one really wanted to know me. Essentially, I had became L. A person with a staid personality and didn't really talk unless I had to.

Once I got to Wammy's I met Matt and Mello, and somehow something just clicked. I don't know what; maybe it was the quirks they had that were so pronounced upon first meeting them. I had learned by then not to pick apart their personalities out loud, but when I met them it was near impossible to hold back. How Matt was immersed into games and yet still completely aware of his surroundings. Or how Mello was a brilliant individual, but he yet his emotions get the better of him. Somehow that sparked my interests. They knew they were different, but they didn't hide it. Maybe that's what drew my attention to them and no one else.

Then I started to talk to them, I didn't feel alone anymore. I felt like I belonged somewhere. The emotions I had been suppressing came out at once and following Mello's lead I acted on impulse and had fun for the first time in years. People noticed me and actually praised me, no longer looking at me with disgusted "You're weird" looks. I pulled another prank just to see what would happen, and the same thing happened again. From there on, I couldn't really stop; I was finally someone for a "positive" reason.

L, when I met him in person. I knew we shared that single feeling, the feeling of being totally and utterly alone. The hollow feeling in my chest and stomach, the constant feeling of being cold even if the air itself is hot. He understood that, and because of it, I subconsciously opened myself up to him. My walls were torn down, the happy façade melted away rather quickly, and now that feeling of belonging was about to be ripped from me due to the hands of Kira.

"I don't want you to die, because I think of you as my brother L," I said quietly as I played with the fruit in the bowl, not really wanting to eat anything. "Sure I've lost my real parents, but all I remember of them are appearances, not who they were." I didn't elaborate, knowing L would connect the dots.

If L were to die, who knows how long it'll it be before I can sleep let alone think seriously about the case. The last time, well when my parents died I couldn't sleep without nightmares for a good month. I even had therapy so don't go there. It didn't help at all, the nightmares, if anything, seemed to be worse. I stopped going, sneaking off once my escort left, thinking I'd stay. I'd then come back and hide in the bathroom until my session was supposedly over. After a while I even lied and said that the doctor said I didn't need the sessions anymore, once the nightmares stopped happening every night.

I really didn't want to go through with that again. The only good thing that came from that experience was my ability to put up a wall that took all emotion from my outward appearance, much like L and Near. I hated doing that, I've never gone and completely voided myself in a long time, and I knew to get anything done I'd have to do that.

Looking around the room, feeling like someone was watching me, my eyes landed on Rem's thin skeletal body. Now that we were somewhere less hectic, she looked like something that came out of a nightmare, no wonder why everyone was screaming when they saw her.

"Ebony, if I may," Watari started causing me to jump slightly. I turned toward him and nodded slightly for him to continue, "you didn't react to Rem when you first met her. Would you mind explaining?" I blinked a few times, Watari wasn't one to ask questions. He was more of a laid-back and just let things happen kind of guy. He trusted both L and I to know what we were doing. So, the fact he was asking meant this was really bothering him.

"I apologize for talking about you like you're not here Rem, but I'd like to answer the question. I figure you're curious as well," I said looking at her, the Shinigami blinked twice before nodding. Focusing on the fruit in front of me, I finally put a grape in my mouth and chewed it a little before launching into my explanation. "I've long suspected now that Shinigami were actually real. My confidence in this wasn't strong at all, as I have explained. Still, I should've reacted, any sane person would. Rem is a being of nightmares, and one of the many faces of death, something everyone fears at one time or another.

"This however doesn't answer your question. I didn't react to Rem simply because at that point I was expecting a Shinigami, a being of death which comes from human fears and bringing them to existence. Rem is just that." Watari looked at L who nodded as I flipped through the notebook again, smirking to myself. L wanted to know this, interesting. It was a clever way of getting the information out of me.

Part of me didn't like where this conversation was heading. My gut instinct was saying that there was more to this. I suspected Shinigami before the proof, and I didn't react to Rem at all. There was also the fact I had called out Higuchi's death before he died. L didn't want to ask me questions directly, but as of this moment, I was being interrogated.

"How did you know Higuchi was going to die?" Watari asked after another nod from L, the detective then stuffing his face full of cookies. Locking my jaw, I bowed my head respectfully toward Watari and glared at L. I dared him with my eyes to ask the question himself. The rest of my expression was flat, in a way it mimicked his.

"Ryuzaki, I'm not in the mood," I muttered quietly, my voice even. The two of us stared at each other, neither one of us blinking, or showing emotion for that matter. Waiting for the other one to crack was the name of the game. Normally, I'd make a funny face about three minutes in, however L got me thinking and with the fear of his death looming over my head; it was like I said, I wasn't in the mood.

"Answer Watari's question Ebony, please," L said sternly, as opposed to his slightly relaxed monotone. I shook my head slowly. I wasn't going to answer the question, I refused. My pride wasn't hurt, no I wasn't even thinking about my pride, it was more the fact that he had pushed forward the fact he wanted me to be his successor, and then weakened my emotional defenses and then used Watari to question me.

"Ask it yourself, and explain to me why exactly –other than mere curiosity –you are asking this question, and remember even though I might pause, I _will_ find out if you're lying," I demanded mimicking L's tone of voice. Watari smiled, clearly pleased about something.

"Ebony, I apologize, but when I entered you and Ryuzaki were discussing whether or not you were worthy of succeeding him. You've overlooked the details of how you're the only one willing to stand up to him," he said kindly. He was right, everyone just dealt with him, well Aizawa was a little more outspoken, but mostly everyone was submissive. Wait a second, which side is Watari on anyways? Traitor.

Cold black eyes, L had many secrets behind those. Digging around in those, I saw some hints of how he respected me for the fact Watari had just pointed out. He was also slightly annoyed with something, probably me. Leaning forward slightly I turned my head slightly away from him in curious thought. L's eyes slightly lightened, finally showing he was out of a deep thought I couldn't detect until he came to a conclusion.

He finally blinked, and met my eyes, searching them. Though all of our time together, I still didn't know how well he could read eyes. He bit his lip, and then his thumb met his lips as he blinked, his eyes darting around in quick circles. I leaned back I moved my hair out of my eyes courteously.

"I suppose my main reasoning for asking these questions is because I myself wasn't able to deduce that he was going to die. I am simply asking how you came to such a conclusion." The room fell into silence again, as I searched his eyes. I picked apart every pigment, every imperfection looking for something that suggested he was lying.

"I was watching Light," I started sitting back, looking at the ceiling as the scene played in my mind again. "After he screamed I watched him. I couldn't see exactly what was happening, I have no proof that will hold up in court. The jury might as well say I was merely guessing. He messed with his watch, what he was doing specifically I don't know." I paused and titled my head to the side in thought. "Well, after looking at the notebook and finding this," I flipped through the last page and showed that it was ripped, "I am assuming he wrote Higuchi's name on a slip of paper. I can't be sure." L nodded and turned toward Rem.

"Shinigami, is it possible for a slip of paper be used to kill someone?" L asked as I turned to look over my shoulder. Rem paused as her single eye looked at L and then at me, and then at L again. She was unsure about something, worried even. Why?

"I am unaware of a situation of which that would occur," she said slowly, blinking her eye twice. I kept my face calm, there was a way I could get her to talk. I mean, there had to be and I just had to find it. That's the hard part about dealing with "mythical" creatures; one simply has no clue on how to attack a situation like this.

Clearing my throat I pulled myself up and sat on the back of the couch and looked her into the one yellow eye she had showing. I crossed one leg and make my face blank.

"Are you sure Rem? I have reasons to believe you belonged to the Second Kira, and I know who said person was. I will promise you this; if you tell us what we want to know I will personally see that the Second Kira isn't killed for what she's done. She was merely repaying a debt she felt she had with the original Kira. Sure it can be treated the same, but if she agrees on wiping her memories for good, I don't see why we should punish her," I was speaking quietly, slightly lying about the whether she "belonged" to the second Kira. She perked up slightly at the mentioning of Kira-B though, so that's something Rem responded, looking at me and concluded that I was serious on my promise. She bowed her head, still reluctant to answer.

I looked at L behind my hair, the low light of the room making it even harder to see his crouched figure, small movements were going to be hard to distinguish. I did see him blink, and from that blink came a nod, a full nod. I returned it and turned back to the tall figure in front of me, widening my eyes as I let my shoulders fall. Innocence was the name of the game now.

"What about the 'deal' Rem?" I asked gently.

"The deal is an exchange for one half of a humans' remaining life span for the Shinigami eyes that allows the user to see the name and lifespan of anyone they choose." I nodded, just like what Backup claimed he could do according to an old journal I had back at the orphanage that I had found. Also, Mel said that L said this, so this was probably true.

The cost of the exchange was new though. My god, there was so much I didn't understand. What felt like a victory was starting to feel like a step back because of my lack of information. Though, this was the best source I could use to get these missing puzzle pieces. I would be incredibly idiotic if I held up my hands thinking the small sliver of information I had just gotten was enough.

"How do these eyes work?" I asked. I'm real subtle I know, but I figured this could be a quick and easy test to see how cooperative Rem was going to be. This was information I knew that she knew, and if she'd tell me this vital piece of information, than getting more from her would be easy. So, at this point being blunt and to the point was the best option, not my fault no one else –meaning L and Watari –didn't see things my way.

Rem shared the shock of my blatant question, standing there staring at me mouth slightly agape. Well, now that I think about it that might've just been her normal face. She should really try closing her mouth, it'd make her look smarter, just saying. She _is_ a death god, so the chances of her knowing more about life…and other junk, was pretty high.

"…I don't know how it works for humans," she said after a long pause. I stopped reading and let my mouth stretch out into a small, yet content smile. This couldn't be proven to be a lie, yet it couldn't be proven true either. Remember what I said about how she was smarter than all of us? Proof right there for the taking folks!

"Alright," I said taking a drink of some orange juice Watari had put out for me. "Then could you please tell us how the eyes work in your circumstance?" The eyes were called "Shinigami Eyes" for a reason, needless to say I was going to assume worst-case here and assume that the "human" version of these eyes are the same. Should that be the case, well I can't really give a deduction based on information I didn't have yet.

The room was completely silent for at least…well I don't know. All I know is that I had enough time to read 7 documents. Who in the world uses 8 point font, single spaced? Alright, L does, but it's giving me a headache. Now all other font sizes look freaking giant! Either way, at this point, I knew Rem wasn't going to answer.

"Nevermind, I understand," I said as I closed the 8th document, leaning back and stretching. Reading takes energy, and it was who knows what time at that point. Well, I guess I could look at the bottom right corner of my screen, but I don't feel like it. "You don't have to tell us anything you don't feel comfortable with. Even though others won't say it –mainly because they don't believe it –I believe that you should have some rights. A part of it is because you can kill us all don't get me wrong, that's a real threat here, but majority is because you are a cognitive being with thoughts and free choice."

"Ebony are you sure about that?" Watari asked concern leaking into his eyes. I confidently smiled and nodded once as I downed the rest of my 4th glass of orange juice. My beliefs were my beliefs, and well, she's a death god. People be cray-cray if they think I was going to make someone who is in possession of a notebook of death angry.

Well, accept Light, multiple reasons. One he doesn't know my real name, and two, even if he did know my real name he couldn't kill me now could he? Nope, that'd be too obvious. Also, Light was freaking hilarious when he was angry, or maybe it was the chocolate. Wait, yeah it was the chocolate because I managed to troll two people at once with one prank!

Back on topic, or as on-topic as I can be; the eyes were essential to the case, if we could get around those as any given moment in time and not look like a welder that'd be awesome! However, being Ebony the wannabe welder was the only way we knew how to get past the eyes. There was one other source, and I know it's obvious where I am heading with this so I just won't state it directly.

I also promised L that I wouldn't pester the vengeful murderer just for the sake of his case, while he was alive. "While he's alive" was the keyword here. Should L die –as tragic as that would be –I was then under no obligations to stay away from Beyond. I know this is a simple concept, but seeing it written out, or saying it out-loud somehow makes this assessment just I don't know, sink in.

I pulled my knees to my chest and looked at the coffee table. I had a few more questions before I signed my life to the Devil –I mean Light – I mean Kira –I mean…oh I give up. "How do you know I won't die Ryuzaki? For all we know, Kira might use Rem to kill you and anyone else deemed as a threat. Why not have Watari fill Near or Mello, both of them, in. They'd actually get somewhere." I crossed my arms eyes still glued to the corner of the coffee table. Watari gently patted my knee, his eyes showing the same hopeless gleam of sorrow L's did. My face melted into a scowl. "I see…"

"Ebony, I understand there will be….delays but you're truly the only one I can see reasonably taking my title alone," L said his back to me. I bit the inside of my lip. I could do it alone, but I depend on Watari just as much as he did. I lose track of time, when I ate last. Don't even get me started how many times I had to ninja run to the bathroom because I hadn't noticed it was time to "go."

"I can't do it alone," I said seriously frowning at the laptop and opening another file when L threw a candy wrapper at the computer. Another frown was earned because of the file, all of them in 8-point font. I understand he's saving the planet and all, but seriously you need a magnifying glass to read this stuff! I exhaled loudly as I shook my head and continued reading. "I need someone like Watari to keep me fed, and minutely healthy. Technically not alone."

"You know what I mean Ebony." I shrugged and noticed another bowl of various fruits beside a coffee cup. I smiled and started eating it, thanking Watari. He nodded in response. "At least finish the Kira case, after that you can see if you can get Near and Mello to cover for you. I warn you though, it starts with one really exciting case, then it's hard to turn away."

A smile crept onto my face, it was forced through. Using my head to hide my eyes I kept the smile on my face as I felt my eyes turn down in worry. Honestly, that's what I was afraid of, next to my worst fear coming true that ranked pretty high on the fear list. My worst fear, is mine to know, so please don't ask. Light might read this and then we'll all be in trouble.

I locked my jaw and tuned everything else in the room out. I kept reading, but I needed to think. If he were to die, I had to agree I was the only one who could stop Kira with little help outside of a helper and the police. Simply because I have been here almost from square one, anyone else would _have_ to come to me at some point because of the position I was in now. There was one problem with me succeeding, I just couldn't do it here, not with everyone against me for thinking it's Light again.

Seeing Higuchi die was a big defining moment for me. Light basically killed right under our noses. No, that's exactly what he did. I had no proof though, this one detail was preventing me from locking that faker behind bars. Though, it did give me hope that he would slip up again, and this time I'll be ready.

"Alright. I'll catch Kira, but don't expect much more from me," I grumbled as my eyes widened. Not again! I jumped off of my chair and ran across the room and slammed the bathroom door shut. Like I said, my body decides to warn me last minute and I have to run like the world's ending just to pee.

xXx

A couple of days past, and things were quiet, aside from me reading and L interrogating Rem with Light stalking from the corners of the rooms. Seriously that guy went from mysterious killer to creepy stalker with the addition of the Shinigami. Other than that, and reading until my eyes couldn't stand it anymore, life was good. It was relaxed, and Task Force was actually talking more casual talk rather than Kira talk.

That was, until the 4th of November. Kira came back, again. How many comebacks is this guy going to have you ask, well I don't know. Before you know it he'll have his own TV special and military regime. If that happens I'm sorry world but Ebony is going knee deep undercover.

The death toll was only 16 criminals, and let me tell you, I might be able to read two things at once but sorting them in my head at the same time was near impossible. Needless to say, I was getting a headache, and not a normal headache. No, this was more like someone taking an ice pick to one's head and giving said person a lobotomy without anesthesia. I yawned as I put new victim number 9's folder on the table, closing out document 643.

I looked at my reflection on the glass around the room, if I cut my hair wore a log sleeve plain white t-shirt and baggy jeans, I could totally pass for L. I was turning part panda! It was horrible mainly because I needed sleep, but I still had 375 files to read. L was pushing me more to stay focused, letting me have what used to be forbidden amounts of coffee to keep me awake. My record was 5 and still not a hyper tornado. If I did fall asleep, Watari would gently wake me up informing me I had only 30 minutes of sleep. Thanks L, appreciate it.

"No, Higuchi wasn't Kira," I said stretching interrupting the conversation once the death toll was given to us, mumbles on how said dead man was supposedly Kira. Task Force noticed my lethargic behavior but they didn't understand why I was going to such lengths.

I wanted to keep my position of being L's successor under wraps as I tried to come up with a way to save the detective, no matter what scenario I could come up with, he ended up dead! It was because of those eyes, in most scenarios I was dead too, so I was also coming up with a way for Mello and Near to find this information. "I can say from reading majority of the files already on these new victims this is more like the first Kira we've encountered." I waved a file in the air to prove my point as I stuck a piece of fruit in my mouth.

I stretched my arms again, popping my shoulder as I picked up folder number 10. L was calm again, the sad note in his eyes still there as he picked up a cracker, that resembled the two of us. He turned toward me and threw a cracker at the file I had unopened in my hands. It was getting closer, he was becoming more and more impatient. Light muttered something under his breath damming Kira, hypocrite.

"Damn Kira," ha why didn't Light just say "Damn Me?" It didn't sound authentic either, his knuckles weren't white. If he really hated Kira with as much hatred as he claimed, then there'd be no doubt in my mind, but I totally doubted him so of course I wanted to see him crumble. He was pushing the envelope at this point, still here not leaving. His acting was losing its luster too. I know the game was getting away with murder, but justice always wins, doesn't this kid read? Someone name me one story that the antagonist wins!

"The killings continued after Amane was released correct?" asked L I turned toward him, my face showing my argument before I made it. He slightly smirked at me. I shook my head gently and muttered that I was going to save her. Light was a manipulator, he might not have used her like this –a scapegoat -as "goodie goodie brain-washed Light" but as this darker truer form I wouldn't but it past him.

"Ryuzaki, not this again," Light said as L poured the cracker box over the Death Note and held one up explaining that if the killings continued when they did-after Higuchi's death- that he won't stop until that person is captured. I curtly nodded at that remark and opened my mouth to respond.

"It'll be hard though all the evidence we have points to Light and Misa being the first two Kiras, however the '13 day rule' completely invalidates this assumption, among other things. We could keep them under our monitoring like we did with Light until he gives a confession, then it'll either be life in Prison, or Death Row, if I know anything about shaping Pathos it's going to be Death Row for the first Kira, and possibly 30 years for the second, the killings were significantly less severe. In English I don't think she deserves a harsh penalty."

"We're too busy to be thinking about this, especially you Ebony," remarked L as I finished off a third cup of coffee that hour, taking a bite out of a peach grumbling under my breath on how I was reading the entire time, he didn't buy it. No, my panda brother just tapped the lid of the laptop, causing me to stick my tongue out at him.

Looking in the reflection of the black computer screen, I saw the Shinigami's eye widen. Something just clicked. Pulling at the edge of the desk, I looked at the narrow cat-like slit in her eyes. Then Light drew my attention on how he was smirking at looking at his peripheral. Rem then turned slightly toward Light. She was scared maybe? It was too hard to tell. That also poses the question on why she was scared of a mortal…unless.

Should my guess be right and she did belong to the Kira-B, than could it be possible that an emotional attachment be present? L, he was going to kill Misa, and in order to save her she'd have to get rid of L, and while she's at it Watari. Me, I was in the grey. I'd probably be killed simply because I was in the way of Light's master plans. Light could easily kill Misa simply because I wasn't dead like he planned. The question was then, would he go that far?

I spun in my chair, picking up the laptop and laid it on my lap. Letting my eyes leave the screen and find Light's eyes. Had they gotten darker the last time I saw them? He was still smirking. I scowled at him, tilting my head to the side. Yeah, definitely darker.

I spun back around and smirked as I picked up another file and opened it next to the laptop once I put it back on the desk. Light's footsteps were heard behind me. He was in a good mood, and I couldn't have that now can I? "Hey Light, I'm winning," I said causing him to stop walking. The room stopped dead, as a smirk spread across my face, Light freezing mid-step. I looked at the camera in the corner of the room, say what you want Kira.

He glared at me, I turned and looked over my shoulder smirking. His eyes were again hidden, but his overall posture gave away his hate, no it was more loathing. I let him see my eyes, I knew he wasn't as good as me when it came to eye reading, but it was always fun to watch him search my eyes, it takes him a while to finish, all I need is a glance. I turned, chuckling to myself.

I spun around once more before taking the Death Note from L and looked at it , confirming the presence of the 13 day rule even though I knew it was there, the print was pretty hard to cover up, just saying. Anyways, there was one more thing I wanted to ask before I went back to my own little world that was cluttered with words.

Opening a new document I called to Rem, the shuffling of the room quieting down once again. "You know who the real Kira is, or I have every right to believe that you do. Could you tell me?" I asked as I scrolled down on the tiny worded document, again would 12 point font kill this guy? Rem made no change in her expression, stance anything. I lifted my head and bit the inside of my lip. "If you tell us who the original Kira is, all thought of the second Kira would be pushed onto Higuchi, as long as the Second Kira keeps to herself she lives. Also if you could tell me more about the 13 day rule that'd be nice."

"I can't tell you the name of the original Kira, I don't know who he is. As for the 13 day rule, it's self explanatory, and one who is using the Death Note fails to kill one person every 13 day they die, it's that simple. I nodded to myself, interesting, she claimed to not know about Light, but she showed some fear toward him. Also, if that rule was real, how did Light get around it?

No impossible, Light Yagami was Kira, Kira was Light Yagami. The rule was fake, end of story. Again the thing preventing any arrests happening was the fact we had no proof. "Innocent until proven guilty" was getting really annoying at this point. I guess I can always make Light's life hell, and then hope he doesn't sick the Shinigami on me. Though if that happens that proves that he's Kira as well. It's a win-win.

I picked up the remaining 6 files I had to multi-task read. I paused and turned toward L. He paid me little mind, he knew his time was limited, he just didn't know when. I then looked at Rem. Her, L, Watari, and myself knew my real name and L's real name. So, out of that list I was scared of her, I did nothing to provoke her, and as she studied me I could see she was confused about what to do with me as well. I didn't want to die, it was that simple.

I may sound selfish, but it's basic human nature. Wanting to live is the most basic thoughts humans have, we will do anything to achieve living another day. Friendships, and other alliances are then null and void, family ties are considered to a point, however overall the human mind is geared to save the one who can carry on the race. That would be me in this case. Curse my young age.

I stood up, taking the rest of what I needed to go to my room, where I can relax after reading a twenty or so files.370 more computer files to read and an unknown amount of time to do it, god this was insane. I pressed the elevator button as L's shuffled footsteps were heard to my left. I looked up and saw a gold chain in his hand with a small metal pendant that had L's insignia on it. I took it and looked closer at it, flashdrive.

"For just in case I die." I nodded as he returned. I called back the number of files left, and he slowly nodded, it was going to get finished, I was determined. I pulled the chain over my head and turned my head to watch him walk off with his thumb in his mouth.

* * *

**Hiya guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I'm not sure what took me so long other than the reason I simply wasn't in the mood to edit. I don't like editing and I really don't want to post the monstrosity that is the draft online. **

**Anyways, I am going to be reluctant to post the next chapter, for multiple reasons. The writer in me loves the chapter, but the fan hates the chapter (I'll explain more when I go get around to posting it. It involves an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other like in the cartoons). The second reason is because I'm adding stuff after that chapter, like three or four chapters, and I'm not done! I like to wait at least a week before editing. **

**So, that's that I guess…Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting. **

**To Kashgal and Nature's Ruler: **

_**Ebony:**__ *falls over laughing* I like this chick. Kicked 'em right where it hurts!_

_**Mello:**__ *winded* not….funny…_

_**Ebony:**__ You're right Mello, it isn't funny….it's freaking hilarious! _

_**Pie:**__ "Kroogan" sounds like "Krogan" I've been playing too much Mass Effect 2…_

_**Matt: **__You play?_

_**Pie:**__ …I could call it character research, but I could've easily gotten the information from YouTube and other websites, but yes I am a gamer. _

_**Ebony:**__ Pie, save me! *hides behind as Mello turns the shade of Matt's hair*_

_**Matt:**__ I don't think we should wake her…it seems dangerous… _


	26. Chapter 25 November 5th

**Disclaimer: I don't Own Death Note, or any other referenced material **

**Note: There is an explanation for my actions at the end of this chapter *puts paper bag over head* Not I shall go cry in a corner. I AM SO ASHAMED! **

**Chapter Twenty-Five November 5th **

"_Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." ― __Steve Jobs_

I rubbed my eyes, I see why L was so monotone, being this tired and being a person with dynamic emotions are two totally different things entirely. The energy can only go to one place, either emotions, or thinking. Apparently I was forced to choose "Think" thanks to L.

I picked up my coffee thermos and closed the document I was reading. Three left, that's all I needed. Three left and I could finally sleep. I heard rain pounding against the side of the building, as I looked around the room. Task Force was scattered everywhere in complete silence shifting through papers reading. There was one person missing though, where was L? I saw him get up, but I didn't pay much attention, figuring it was just a potty break like the other fifty-three times I'd seen him get up that day.

I stood up and looked at the monitors, glad we were overly paranoid at this point. I smirked as I remembered how I had managed to convince Matsuda to play hide-and-seek once, I won. The entire floor was empty, he wasn't in his room; he never went in there. I saw L on the roof, what was he doing?

I turned and walked to the elevator, I will admit the past week he's been more distant than normal. Whenever someone talked to him, he'd say one or two words, the bare minimum and left no elaboration. I'd sometimes have to clarify something in the files and he's just look at me and told me to "figure it out" coldly. Sure it was no problem, but a part of me was asking these questions because I wanted to hear him talk instead of wallowing in his thoughts that were clearly troubling him.

"I'll be right back, going to see what Ryuzaki is up to," I said with a nod as I rubbed my eye with a small yawn. Another thing I've learned, the longer you stay up, the easier it is. I will admit, it was harder to stay focused, but that's when I actually try to think. My fruit intake has gone up 90%, I was eating constantly, like L did. Now all of his quirks made complete sense to me. Most of what L did, he did because he needed sleep.

My stomach twisted into knots as I got to the roof, past the hidden helicopters and faced one of the satellites that L was hunched over by. His mane of black hair was relaxed down, no longer erratically standing up proving that he hadn't found the time to brush through his hair. His shirt was stuck to his body, and it being white also meant it was now see-through. He was in deep thought, looking at the sky, his eyes clenching shut every time a raindrop hit near his eyes.

Pausing in the shade I closed my eyes and listened to the pounding of the rain past the roof. The storm was heavy, the chances of L being able to hear me was slight, It'd be safer to go out there with him, cutting out unnecessary attempts to form communication. Opening my eyes I looked upwards, watching the rain for a few moments, the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach getting worse.

I walked up calmly to him, putting my hands in my pockets and following his gaze outward over the city. "What's up?" I asked tilting my head to the side as I tried to find what he could be staring at so intently. All I saw were the tops of buildings cloaked in a grey blanket of rain, the humid air giving my body the impression it was warm outside. Lights were on, the yellow glow scattered everywhere. It was…serene looking at all of this.

"Nothing in particular, it's just the bells…" I frowned I didn't hear anything. L looked up and tilted his head in thought as I turned to look at him, worry taking over my expression. "Yes, the bells are really loud today." I felt my heart drop as I turned toward the detective and gently laid my hand on his shoulder. He lowered his gaze slightly and met mine, the sad tone I had noticed the day before now deeper. I started to open my mouth to say that I didn't hear the bells, ignoring the brunette killer as he joined us on the roof.

I froze, he was right. Bells, like church bells, ringing loudly so loud that I could almost feel my teeth vibrate. The only problem was, there was no church anywhere near here, not for a good mile. I then relaxed and leaned on the guard rail, my soaking hair falling in my eye. L… Biting the inside of my lip I slightly shook my head, not now.

"I don't hear anything," said Light turning toward where L and I were looking. I slowly took my hand off of his shoulder, nothing, the bells were gone. L turned toward Light, as if just noticing him for the first time. I just sat there, rain dripping off of my hair, counting the drops as they fell to the already soaked concrete.

"Really? The conditions are favorable today so you can't help but hear them." I closed my eyes, more wet hair falling into my face. L, please stop talking about this, there are only a few things church bells ring for "It's a church, maybe a wedding or…" He wasn't going to finish, I didn't blame him, but I also felt that it should be finished. I clenched my hands, shaking my head slightly as my mouth started to form words against my will. No mouth stop!

"A funeral, perhaps someone died," I said distantly, L nodded and repeated the first part of the sentence in agreement. I pushed myself up on the bars of the guard rail, a breeze blowing through, causing me to shiver. Me and not-long-but-not-short sleeved shirts, not the best choice for a cold rainy night, but normal shirts are uncomfortable. I looked down and ran my hand through my soggy hair, one mistake up here and I'd die.

I'd be a stain on the concrete, no longer a problem to Kira's plans. With the prognosis of L pretty much absolute, then there'd be nothing to stop Kira. I clenched my fists and pushed away from the guardrail. I slightly shook my head and turned toward Light slightly, he was watching me, smirking slightly.

"I'm sorry," L started angling his head down avoiding everyone's gaze. I lifted my head, relaxing my shoulders and turned toward the detective, "I'm distant with my relationships with everyone. I don't trust anyone either." I scowled at this, he gave me his real name knowing that Kira could use it to kill him. I even went as far as throwing that slip into a fire letting it burn at Wammy's. Granted, I never told him, he still gave it to me. If that wasn't trust I didn't know what was. I looked at Light and then at L, as everyone on the roof was quiet.

"Ryuzaki, everyone trusts one person at some point in their life. If someone can trust absolutely no one even in the slightest, then they can barely be called human," I said as a frown took hold of my expression, I was hearing the bells on my own now, significantly fainter than when I was touching L, but like when I was touching him they didn't sound like they were ringing for me.

"That's true Ebony, I suppose I trust you to a point." I nodded once it was better than not being trusted at all. Cough, Light cough. I looked at Light, he said that L was right about him being introverted around people. Well duh! If he wasn't introverted than everyone would know his real name, and if everyone knew his real name, than he'd be dead by now. "Yes, that's how it is Light. But, you're the same as me, you too Ebony." I lifted my head and shrugged, I learned that if I trust people I get hurt, that's why I reserve it for people who truly deserve it. Light asked for a better explanation.

L didn't respond at first. A part of me automatically went to the conclusion that he was going to change the subject, but me being me worked backward and figured out why. Like I said we were both alone, and we were both orphans. Anyone would be introverted after that. Why Light was introverted was another story entirely. He has had a family his entire life, he's lived a perfect life on the surface. The only thing I could think that L meant was that Light had a secret, that Light was Kira. Then we're having a fight on a roof in the middle of the night. Not smart.

"Since you were born, have you ever told the truth, even once?" L asked.

"What are you saying Ryuzaki? Light asked as I rolled my eyes. He's saying you're a liar Light. Playing stupid isn't really your style. "It's true I lie occasionally," understatement of the millennium. "However, there aren't any humans who have never told a lie. People can't be perfect everyone lies. Even so, I won't tell lies that will hurt those I love. That is my answer." I blinked some rain out of my eyes, shaking my head to get some of the rain off.

By not telling everyone what he was doing, putting on the façade of innocence, he has actually been hurting those that he loves. Namely Mr. Yagami, if he had told him from the beginning, the pain would've hurt less and the punishment less severe. He didn't do that, it's been about a year since the killing has started, and the pain the old man will feel when the truth is revealed will be that much worse in the end. That's why at that moment, I decided. Mr. Yagami was the ultimate victim here.

"Come-on, let's head back. As much as I love standing out in the rain, I don't like standing outside at night. I always feel like the sky is going to swallow me up," I said looking toward the sky, spinning on my heel, my wet hair smacking me in the face. I started walking inside, the two of them following close behind.

I raised my hands as L tossed me a towel. I ran it through my hair letting it fall to the middle of my shoulder blades. L commented on the rain, and I looked at him as I wrung my hair out in the towel as I smiled. "You started the trend." I lifted my head and looked at the ceiling, ignoring the two of them as there were talks about foot massages and how L was still wet. I swear, if I didn't know the two of them hated each other that'd be a total Yaoi moment.

For some reason my head decided to play back all the happy memories I had with L, meeting him for the first time, my hyper on coffee, talking to him about my dead parents, playing chess. One time I put icing on his nose and laughed as he went cross-eyed to look at it. The time we spend at the ice cream parlor, him telling me about my "vacation" in England and how I actually hugged him. The prank the two of us pulled together. Everything playing back quickly in a soundless movie that only lasted a few moments, but it summed up everything. Even though we had our moments, we were close. Looking at his other interactions, even with Watari, I felt that I was the only person he truly let his defenses down for.

I bowed my head, my hair covering my face as I felt L put his hands on my shoulder, causing me to look up at him as he turned to Light. "I'm sad," he said as Light's expression turned to one of confusion. Hair covered up L's right eye completely , his left barely seen. "You'll understand soon." I widened my eyes as I took a step back, shaking my head in complete disbelief. It couldn't happen. No! L was going to live dammit!

A bell brought me out of my small panic attack, a cell phone. L walked off after answering his phone. I followed him like a lost puppy, spending every last second like it mattered. It did to me, I didn't want to watch him die, but I also didn't want to not be there when it happened. Conflicting emotions and wants were annoying. Even I didn't know what to do, so I did what I did best, followed my gut and my gut said to stick with L.

The elevator door opened and we walked out, Matsuda going on about a plan that needed support from other countries. We both crouched in computer chairs as L asked how said plan was going, which wasn't too well. There was only one real lead we had at this point on proving, or disproving whether Light was Kira or not. We've seen all of the rules on the front cover of the Death Note tested. That left two on the back cover, those that strictly benefitted Light in proving his innocence.

"As expected, but please get the approval for use of the notebook," L commented. I looked at him, testing the 13 rule if I was right. I shook my head, distracting myself by figuring out L's plan, or at least how I'd do it. We were going to give notebooks to a handful of inmates, telling them each to "kill" someone. The victim would be the same and the person would die. The kicker was, only one inmate was going to have a real notebook. Without telling Light who had the real notebook, we wait 13 days, if no one, or everyone dies the rule is fake, if only the one inmate dies it's real.

"What's going on Ryuzaki?" asked Light slightly appalled. I bit the inside of my lip as L said he was going to test the notebook for himself. Get this, everyone was shocked. The morality of this plan was low, we'd be killing at most 6 people, that Kira probably was going to kill anyways, so at this point I was desperate to save L, even though my light of hope was dwindling.

"That's unthinkable! We've seen it already, the notebook's power is real!" said Aizawa as Matsuda said that we'd have to kill people every 13 days to prevent the user him, or her, from dying themselves. I put my thumb to my lips in thought, this was interesting how all of this was playing out. It was expected protests, but they were missing the big picture. Then again, they never suspected Light in the first place.

Their faith in him was going to get away at some point. If L was right and I do survive, I am going to disappear, taking the notebook with me. There is no chance I will let Light keep that notebook. Still, me disappearing with a notebook of death was going to get suspicious fingers pointed at me, and sadly that was a risk I was willing to take.

"The writer will be a criminal who is due to be executed soon," said L, avoiding their gaze my looking at a screen blankly. "We will make a deal with him; if he's alive when the 13 days are over, he'll be set free." More protests were voiced, mostly about how it's a person's life. I gripped the wet jeans I was still wearing. I was already almost breaking down in tears, this unneeded conflict wasn't helping at all.

I took a deep breath and straightened my back, using L's tactic and looked at the screen in front of me, avoiding everyone's gaze. "I know this sounds cold, but what's one more life lost? If this guy is still alive after the 13 days the case will be closed, only one more step taken from there," I imputed my voice slightly sharpened due to my agitation and to hide my sadness. I cringed as lightning struck the building, the lights going out. I tensed as L was unfazed, of course he was.

I looked at nothing as the backup generators kicked on. The lights were tinged red, and low making it possible to see, but not much better. My eyes squinted closed as blinding light came from the monitors before me. I looked up at the white screens, so much for reading those last three files. "All data deletion." Watari was dead. Three fucking files! My collection was incomplete, I was missing some details, and I couldn't predict if they were going to be important or not. I stood up and slammed my fists onto the desk.

"What's going on?" asked Aizawa stepping go get a better view of what was written on the screens. I slowly shook my head and stood up, why now? Couldn't it have waited? Couldn't have I just finished reading those damn files? That's the least time could've done. The ideal scenario was that it was 14 days from now, so we could go behind everyone's back and go through with the plan anyway. Anything to catch him, I'll do anything to catch Kira.

"I instructed Watari to delete all data if something unexpected happened to him," explained L evenly. Well, death counted as unexpected I had to give him that. I looked around, to see if I could find Rem, thinking she might be, or at the very least know what was responsible. Nothing, I was met with a dark room filled with desperate humans.

"Where's Rem?" I asked after I made a 360 of the area. The rest of Task Force, aside from L and Light looked around. I met eyes with the teenager, watching as a small smile spread across his lips, his eyes telling me that _he_ had won. My head shook slightly on its own, my eyes shadowed as I furrowed my brow in determination.

I turned toward L as he tried to yell out orders to find the Shinigami, getting cut off mid-sentence, his eyes widening. "No!" I yelled so loud my voice cracked. I threw my arm out and tried to catch him, my eyes were squeezed shut. I faintly remember the feeling of tears, not just one or two, but a waterfall pouring down my face as my side and L's back hit the ground.

"C-come on L. D-don't d-do this," I whispered after I had pushed myself up to look at his blank eyes. He remained motionless, no signs of life within his body."Live damn you!" Bowing my head my voice cracked again as I punched his chest in angst. Nothing, it was completely motionless, his heart wasn't beating. My eyes which I had closed to keep the tears in snapped open as I pushed myself up, looking at the body under me. "L…L…_**L**_!" I had to do _something!_ I couldn't just sit there and watch him die.

Pushing myself on my knees and started pushing on his chest, my tears falling from my face as I continued to desperately calling for L, his eyes still staring at the ceiling. My attempts to save his life became more frantic as he started to slowly close his eyes. For once they weren't clouded in shadows of lies and distrust, they were clear. Pure innocence, carefree, those are the things I saw in his eyes. If he wasn't dying I'd say he was happy.

"No Don't! D-don't leave me L!" I yelled in a whisper. "D-don't fa-fall asleep on me." I stopped trying to resuscitate him and sat back on my knees, head bowed. I took his hand and bowed my head, more tears falling from my eyes, chin and onto the floor. "D-don't l-leave me alone. I'm t-tired of being alone. J-just wake up alright?" His hand was already slightly cold. His eye lids closed as I softly let out another plea for him to stay with me.

Everything around me melted away. Task Force and their panics weren't heard as Matsuda fell to the floor, covering his head and neck like there was an explosion coming. What emotion I felt melted away as a familiar hallow, cold feeling came over me. I had an overwhelming desire to hug my knees and just sit there, not thinking about anything, not doing anything. I just wanted to sit there, completely numb.

He was free. Free of the shackles of law. Free from the tyranny of Kira. Looking back, I am jealous of L. He didn't have to worry about anything, nothing was out to get him. He wasn't L anymore, he didn't have to keep appearances –granted he really didn't have one to begin with. He was, L Lawliet. Not L the detective, but him and nothing more.

I barely noticed Light smirking, I was too distracted. I did notice the hateful glare he was giving me when I didn't die. Though I wasn't physically dead, the Ebony these guys knew was gone, and she probably wasn't going to come back. Sure I might learn to act more like myself, but I'll have a new quirk to my name. I got over my parent's death with fruit, I wonder what this time will hold.

The brunette took two steps toward me and knelt down, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Ebony, he's dead," he said turning away from me and shook his head slightly. I turned toward him, seeing his shoulders move to look like he was crying silently, but I saw it. He was smirking, no tears left his eyes. Light Yagami was laughing at the death of L. That was the last straw, as if killing L wasn't enough.

"Ty, ublyudok!" I yelled in Russian at I stood up sharply, calling Light a bastard. The bastard in question took his hand from my shoulder and let it fall close to his chest in shock at me. "You have done nothing but cause us pain! You killed him to no good lowlife bastard!" I yelled in a mixture of German and Russian.

Task Force looked at me with faces of confusion, no body aware what I was really saying. It was a good thing too, things only got more colorful from there. "You're a heartless bitch who just keeps falling lower and lower on the fucking morality scale. And for what? To cleanse the fucking world? For worthless shitty power? For your own damn amusement? I swear the next time we meet I will proudly wear the blood of a fucking murder on my hands because you're going down Yagami." I exhaled loudly as I shook my head in disapproval.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't understand a word you said," Light said with a slight chuckle, holding his hands palm out my the sides of his face shrugging. Dammit! I played right into it. I let him know I was mad. Though being emotionally unstable was to be expected. "Why don't you lie down, you're clearly in shock over what happened." He took a step toward me and I let my enraged face melt.

"I thank you for your concern _Light,_ but I'm fine," I started my voice even, exempting his name which I spat with hatred. This caused Light to stop walking toward me, seeing my true feelings toward him through my eyes. "Though as for what I just said, I think this just about sums it up. Get the fuck out of this building Light Yagami. Get the fuck out and don't come back. You're fucking fired, end of fucking story."

The room was completely silent as even Light looked at me with wide eyes. I wasn't sure if this was caused because of my colorful vocabulary, or the fact I went from proper and polite to enraged at the drop of a hat. Nevertheless, the message was received and Light turned and walk off, his father following at his heels.

"I'm sorry for my language, as expected I am a little unstable after what we've just witnessed, and let's be honest I never really liked Light," I said as I bowed my head looking at L's corpse. He was gone and there was nothing I could do. I was now L.

The formally comfortable room was suddenly cold as my head fell to my chest. My hands found themselves into fists as I bit my lip. In my mind, I saw a little girl, shaking her mother's bleeding body, asking in a desperate voice for her to wake up. I felt hollow again, I felt sub-human again. I hated this feeling, incapable of feeling, empathy or my own emotions. I could care less what happened to anything around me. If the world blew up tomorrow, I wouldn't care.

"…Ebony," said Aizawa as he knelt down next to me. Somehow my legs had given out and I was on the floor, my legs in a "W," my face in my hands covered in tears, "we can't just leave you here. Why don't you stay with my family tonight?" Blinking through my tears, I felt my lips part, unsure how to respond to the sincerity of the offer.

"S-sure," I said as I sniffled, rubbing my nose with the back of my hand. "Let me just get a few things packed and lock the building up. No one is going to be allowed in here after today. I'll call home when we get to your house, a-are you sure this is alright?" Lifting my head I looked into the afro-man's concerned eyes. I just went off on Light, and yet he was offering me a place to stay. This was unlike him. Seeing how he's a hypnotized puppet, or it seemed like it, he should just let me wallow in my newfound depression.

"I owe you one for keeping me in the loop while I was with the police, come-on. I'll call my wife while you pack." He stood up, one hand in his pocket looking for his phone, the other hand held out for me to take. I grabbed it and stood up. I searched his eyes again, he genuinely cared. This was something I should expect given all that we've been through up until this point, but seeing it was surreal. It wasn't like a comrade in blood, but like a friend. It made me feel bad that I still had my guard up around him.

"Please leave Watari and L, I want to take them with me. Don't worry about how I'm going to do it, just trust me alright?" I looked at L's corpse as I said this, letting my frown deepen. I walked toward the elevator, pausing as I tried to figure out where Rem was during all of this, and why she hadn't came back. Regardless, I went to my room; I had a message I had to give Task Force before I left. There might not be any hope they'll believe me, but I had to try.

The elevator door slowly opened, revealing another door down a short hallway. I counted my slow, even steps as I approached the door and clasped the cold doorknob in my hand. Slowly turning the knob, pushing the door open, and flipped on the lights, about to just go around and throw some clothes in a small bag, but something stopped me. My brow furrowed at the object on the floor.

A black notebook laid just a few steps from the door, surrounded by grey ash. Where did that come from? Looking for Rem, I slowly walked to the book and picked it up, almost dropping it when I saw the familiar scratch written on the cover. _Death Note._ This thing was a Death Note.

Blinking I opened the first cover and then I dropped it numbly. It…it was Rem's notebook there was no doubt in my mind about it. No human on the face of this planet could've done this, no one had the required information. Written on the first page were two full names and one half name.

_Quillish Wammy_

_L Lawliet_

The last name was mine, and it wasn't complete. I was saved by six measly letters. Six letters from death, and six letters from not being able to spread the message I needed to. This couldn't be proof, it was Shinigami handwriting, Light didn't kill L, but he was the puppeteer. If anything, not being man enough to do it himself made me loath him even more.

Standing up I kept a tight hold of the book, shit was going to go down. Walking to my desk I picked up a pen and scribbled down a note, planning on giving it to Aizawa who should in turn give it to the rest of Task Force, someone aside from Light should find the message here, they're cops for pete's sake.

Kira was going to fall by my hand, not because I was bored. That time has passed, I was no longer bored, won't be for a while. Any and all emotions are going to have to be relearned once again, I have blocked them out. Kira was going to fall because he deserved it. He is a murderer, mass serial murder that deserved the death sentence in my opinion. I clenched my hands, he got close to finishing off everyone who knew he was who he was. My first name was written in the book, Rem dissolving into dust was the reason I was alive. Pure luck, I was alive by pure luck.

"Don't worry L Lawliet, your loss won't be in vain," I whispered as I continued writing, pausing when I didn't know what to write next to walk around my room and pack, so that if Aizawa came in and I wasn't ready all I had to do was frown and throw something in the bag. This notebook might not change the newfound hole in my heart, but it proved that I was targeted by Kira, and only one suspect knew that I was even on this investigation.

The only problem was, no one knew my real name, and by showing them this information would mean compromising the secret of my true identity. Regardless, I knew of someone who would do whatever he could to help me, and as of this moment I counted on him to help me. He was the new Watari.

"Ebony, are you ready?" Aizawa asked as he knocked and opened my door as I zipped up the duffle bag that I had resting on a chair. My back was toward him as I picked up the notebook with a piece of paper on it, sighing and then unzipping the bag laying the notebook on top, keeping the paper in my hand.

"…Yeah," I said not faking the sulkiness of my voice. "Thank-you again Aizawa, you didn't have to do this." I pulled out a master key to the entire building. No one was going to be able to come in here after I leave. Not for a very long time.

I picked up the bag and swung it over my shoulder, bowing my head once again in defeat and complete loneliness. Aizawa didn't say anything but patiently walked with me to the elevator, not saying a word. The annoying, loud and obnoxious Ebony he had become accustomed to, was dead with the detective and his assistant.

Taking the page in my hand, I folded the edge over to the other side, obscuring most of the message. "Could you give this to Task Force the next time you see them?" I asked when we got in the elevator. I handed it to the afro-haired cop. He took it, and unfolding it, reading it slowly.

_Everyone,_

_You know, this is the most fun I've had in  
awhile. Honestly I can't tell you how  
glad I am to call everyone of you my friend.  
A loss is a loss though. We have to move on.  
Might be hard, but we have a job to do right?  
Imagine the kids mourning for their parents.  
Imagine the face Kira makes when he loses.  
So as much as I hate to leave, I must.  
Kira is back, the one we hate. So, with what  
I've learned over the years and considering L dead,  
reason says either Light or I will take his place. Here is  
a promise I intend to keep, I will catch Kira._

_Love, Ebony Kage._

"Ebony…" he started as the elevator opened. I walked out and put some earbuds in, drowning him out. He didn't see it, not yet. I was only going to talk to him about the message when he saw that message.

* * *

**I hate this chapter (and the next three) so freaking much! Generally I'm a pretty happy person, Ebony (aside from the past two chapters) is me, so this has been a pain in my butt. Do you know how hard it is to write something depressing after you've had a good day? It's hard. **

**Before I get to the depressing stuff, this Sunday is Ebony's birthday both her character and the story. I totally didn't plan it that way I swear. Also, the last chapter was the longest chapter in the history of me. **

**So L's dead. I hate this decision so much. But the writer in me said that it had to be done. Seriously I have stopped talking to myself because of this chapter right here. Well, the side of me that is a Death Note fan stopped talking to the writer side of me. I wanted to save him, but everything was either unrealistic, completely lame, or Ebony dies instead. The writer in me was not about to let Ebony die. So, he stayed cannon and kicked the bucket. **

**On a happy note –if there could be one –the story from here on out is pretty much straight from my head. I follow basic cannon, but I then I mess around with it pretty quickly. Chapters might be a little slow because I'll be adding A BUNCH of them to my draft. I'm going through and when I feel like it moves too fast (like it did in the anime just my opinion) I add a chapter or two. Good example would be the BB chapters, went from 1 to 3. **

**I think that's it other than I'm still writing chapter 26, so I'll let that set for a while before editing it.**

**Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting. Here's a tissue. *hold out box* Or…a lot. **

**To Kashagal and Natures Ruler: **

_**Ebony:**_ _Yeah Banana King, surrender to the….her *points*_

_**Matt:**__ Really you couldn't have come up with a better name?_

_**Ebony:**__ No, she ate most of my brain food alright!_

_**Matt:**__ True, but you're still more creative than that. _

_**Ebony: **__ Shuddup! It's almost my birthday, you're supposed to be nice to me! _


	27. Chapter 26 Another Sleepless Night

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any other referenced copyrighted materials. **

**Chapter Twenty-Six Another Sleepless Night**

Moonlight streamed through the darkened guest room I was staying in. I hadn't bothered with the light, I knew I wasn't going to be going to bed, and I didn't want to wake anyone with a thin line of light seeping through the inch under the door even though this was unlikely. Any and all concepts of time I could've ever processed, had been long gone at that point. I only knew what day it was, was because on the way to his house, I had asked Aizawa. November 5th, 2007 was the new day of infamy.

Sitting on the windowsill, hugging my knees to my chest, I looked outside. The rain had started again, small streams of water flowed over the glass as I stared at the luminescent screen of the phone in my hands. A number was displayed on the screen. The newfound problem was that I just didn't have the guts to press the call button. My thumb was hovering over it; I just couldn't bring myself to push it. I couldn't do it, I couldn't be the one to give the news that he was dead. I couldn't be the "bad guy" in that sense, everyone looked up to L. But who else could?

Closing my eyes I forced my thumb down, lightly tapping the button needed to send the call to England. My stomach knotted up more than it already was as I squeezed my eyes shut to prevent tears from spilling over. Opening my eyes, I validated the call was going through as I put the phone to my ear, biting my bottom lip and focused on the rain drops on the window, a slight draft making the hair on my forearms raise.

"Hello, this is Wammy's House. My name is Roger Ruvie, how may I help you?" came from the speaker of the phone in my hands. The quality was horrible, the voice hardly recognizable as the man I have been pulling pranks on for the past 3 years. A small smile spread across my face anyways as I brought my knees closer to my chest and hugged them with one hand.

"So you can sound like a normal person when you want to," I responded softly putting in a flat chuckle in like nothing at all was wrong. Even I could tell he wasn't going to buy it, and I let it fall, die out like a doused fire. I sighed and gave up trying to be normal. "Before you ask, no I'm not alright. Complete opposite."

"What happened Ebony?" came the old man's voice concern evident in his tone. My frown deepened slightly. Concern, that was in the cop's voice when he opened the door and found me over my mother's body. I've grown accustomed to hate that emotion. The entire concept of empathy is lost on me. No one could know what it feels like when they themselves have lived through it. Sure they could think back on an experience they've had in the past, but nothing compares to having ones parents ripped from their lived. Regardless, my response was borderline hysterical.

"He's dead Roger," I started my voice barely above a whisper as I closed my eyes again to prevent tears from spilling over. "He and Wammy are both dead and there was nothing I could've done! I don't fucking know how I'm still alive! Roger it should've been _me._ At least there would be a plan on how to stop Kira." The sounds of a door slamming open meant nothing to me. I closed my eyes and shook my head. My head was scrambled. For the life of me I couldn't tell which side of the conversation the door slam came from. My mind was elsewhere, those three documents.

Those three files, the ones I hadn't read were coded. That wasn't the issue, all of the files were coded, but for the most part the files had a consistent, change to the code. Those files were different. The puzzle behind it was tough, like all of L's codes. I had gotten through one line, that's all I needed to know how I should've treated those three files. They were saved for last because they looked toward the future, a detailed plan that told me how to stop Light, and it's gone as far as I knew.

I thought I'd be able to come up with my own plan, but now sitting here barely paying attention to the bickering on the other end of the phone, I knew that was going to be impossible. How could I come up with a plan better than L's in this state? I could barely say that he was dead and that I failed at the one job L had ever specifically given me. It was hopeless. Kira had won the battle, the king had been captured. Now, I had to choose whether or not I wanted to continue playing by the rules, or just sit back and admit defeat.

I looked at the open laptop I had on the bed, the blank screen looking at me, mocking me. I was Ebony. Ebony has never given up one something she was committed to finish. I said I was committed to stopping Kira. Standing up I walked over and pressed the power button, watching the screen as it flashed alive, and then a blue screen greeted me. "Please install an operating system." I blinked and shook my head.

"No." I whispered. "No Dammit!" I cursed as my fist hit the keyboard. It was gone, really gone. My suspicions were validated. When L said that it'd wipe the memory of every system, he meant it. All of those documents, all of that information was now only in my head. All that time spent, and it was an incomplete collection.

"Ebony, what happened?" came Matt's voice. I inhaled sharply, completely forgetting I was on the phone. My muscles tensed as I let my head sort things out, letting my paranoia calm down as lightning flashed behind me. _It was only Matt Ebony, calm down._

"…Y-yeah. I was doing something for….him before _it_ happened. I-it's gone. I'll explain later," I responded my voice showing the lugubrious tone evident. "It takes about 12 hours to get to Japan from England, once you and Roger are here we'll use one of the helicopters here. While we're in the sky you'll have to set up fuel points in Russia, and Germany." The line was quiet for a moment, Matt trying to judge just how far under I had gone in this short amount of time.

"We'll be there in about 12 hours. It wasn't your fault Eb, it was Kira and you know it. There was nothing you could've done to prevent L's death. Right now, know that you're still alive and Kira is going to pay for letting you live. I know how you are." I shrugged and sat on the bed, bringing the laptop within arm's length.

"Yeah, you have a point. I told Kira to GTFO today. Tell Roger that I know who his successor is, but I am already a week into my insomnia, and I don't see it letting up anytime soon. There is something I have to prove when I tell Mello and Near, and right now I can't even read a clock."

Matt chuckled on the other end and said he should be there about three tomorrow. So, it was three in the morning already? So, when did L actually…leave our world? I highly doubt Aizawa was going to tell me. If I worded it right, Matsuda might, but I had to get him alone. Light was my last effort, I had to show my weakness if I ask him, and that is a _big_ mistake. I lightly tossed the phone on the bed next to me and started seeing if anything could be saved with my limited knowledge of computers.

My typing was quick, almost hysterical. I didn't know what I was going to do, probably find out a way to ensure that if I were to die, that the information we had on the case wouldn't be lost. Splitting up the information between Near and Mello was probably the safest bet here. Those three files though, I needed those three files. I could finish this case with those files. If those files couldn't be recovered, then I don't know what my next move was going to be, or when it was going to take place.

"Goddammit!" I growled as I slammed the lid of the laptop, and hugged my knees for a moment shaking my head as tears finally spilled over. "No! No, no, no! I can't be gone, that was my only hope!" My voice was still a harsh whisper as I took a deep breath, trying to keep myself from snapping. Going completely insane wasn't an option. Insanity is probably what Light was counting on, I couldn't fall into his palm.

"Ebony are you alright?" I paused and looked up, my eyes wide in fear. ?" I looked at a figure standing in the door. Judging by the silhouette alone, I guessed it was, walked in and closed the door. I tensed up as he turned the light on, revealing Aizawa. Sighing in relief, I shook my head and looked at the corner of the closet. So, Post-Trauma-Stress was finally kicking in, this was interesting. Last time I have seen this disease, it was only present in my troubling extremely graphic nightmares. My mind apparently got the message that I wasn't going to be sleeping anytime soon. I nodded and hugged my knees, as a thought came to mind, who had the notebook.

"Aizawa, did you happen to grab the Death Note, or saw who did?" I asked quietly looking at the corner of the room, watching as the afro cop nod his head. "Thanks, that puts one of my worries to rest." I glanced at the laptop again. Not all hope was gone, just a good chunk of it.

"What about the building, what's going to come of that?" I told him the plan was to keep it locked up, that if I needed it, it would still be there and if it wasn't it would be given to the bank so they would be able to sell it for a business. "Why? You could easily get another building, or do what L did."

"That's not the point! L built that building to stop Kira. We've only used it for a month. It's going to be used more for its original purpose. The dust can be dust away, the paint repainted. The stains left by Kira are there to stay, and the people I'll be working with will use it to get back at Kira." I clenched my fists and closed my eyes. Anything for the case, I think I am starting to completely understand why L was like he was.

I stood up, needing to walk around the house, maybe the movement could stimulate some sort of thought. No, thinking was the last thing I needed. If I started thinking, I will forget L is dead, and then should I find something in my memory of the case, seeing him die will be the first thing I'll see in my mind's eye as I go to tell him. Though, with that being said as I sat there I watched a silver spoon in my mind fall to the ground. Actually, I hoped that my nerves could be calmed, and this sense of emptiness could be gone.

Even though I was still awake, I closed my eyes. Even though I was still awake, my mind was my enemy. Even though I was still awake, I saw L die over and over in my min. My insides turned cold, my knees felt week. I fell down and shook my head as I ran my fingers though my hair muttering under my breath. I whimpered, asking for the comfort of Matt, the only one close enough to me that I knew would provide the comfort I needed.

"So I am guessing sleep is out of the question," he noted as I shook my head at his question. "Me neither, let's get some coffee." I looked up as Aizawa held out his hand. I took it and noticed that he was wearing a t-shirt and normal jean pants. Saying he looked weird outside of a suit, was an understatement.

"Thank-you," I mumbled and shuffled behind him. "My entourage should be here at 3 this afternoon, we'll be sky bound by 4 if everything goes as planned. Show my note to everyone else, my e-mail address is on the back. _Don't_ you dare give it to Light. "

"You have my word. Ebony." I nodded and followed him through the house, shuffling in my socked feet as I noticed I could barely recall what happened after I left the building. I knew we came straight here, but meeting Eriko and Yumi is all a blur. I mean, I remember eating, and making small talk, but right after we ate I disappeared into the guest room, giving some excuse that I knew wasn't going to hold up tomorrow.

I stared into the cup of coffee in front of me. I blinked a few times, kicking my feet lightly, trying to act more like me and not a desolate shell of what appears to be human. Aizawa watched me the entire time. "What are you thinking about Ebony?" he asked. I looked up and tilted my head to the side.

"Nothing. I am thinking about absolutely nothing."

xXx

I jumped slightly when a few knocks were heard at the door. Aizawa stood up to answer the door, leaving us in the main room. The smile I had on for the sake of Aizawa's daughter Yumi faded as I stood up. I turned back to the small girl and smiled once more, telling her I had to go to the bathroom. She nodded and continued playing with the dolls we had scattered on the floor. Her mother, looked at me with suspicious eyes. As I expected, she didn't really believe the story we told her last night. I don't blame here especially after I smiled at Yumi and acted like nothing was wrong, but I planned on coming clean, or somewhat clean before I left.

I followed Aizawa, stopping at the corner before the door and bowed my head, listening as the door was opened. There was some talking, mumbling. Too soft for me to hear, too soft for me to even distinguish what language was being spoken. I mean, I assumed Japanese given where we were, but I was too tired to be sure. My mind was a mush of everything and nothing.

"I-is she alright?" was the first thing to be heard. Followed by Aizawa's response to how he didn't know, that on the surface "she" was perfectly fine playing with his daughter like nothing happened. It was painfully obvious who "she" was at this point, I was the only really significant female on the case other than Misa, and that was because she was a suspect. "Really? Maybe Light's right, maybe she really is Kira?" That was Matsuda's voice, that traitor!

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped with my stomach. After everything we've been through he has the nerve to side with that bastard? I was even on the case longer than Light was, or at least the investigative portion of it. I knew Task Force better than he did, not to mention I actually _cared_ for their wellbeing.

"And have a reaction like that? This is Ebony we're talking about" came a third voice. Exhaling the breath I had been holding, I furrowed my brow in confusion. That….I've already called Light all the names I knew that involved cuss words. No, that's a lie, but I wouldn't like to use the names I had left. Not yet, wanted to save them for when I take him down. Still, he was framing me! I didn't want to have to do this, but I had to.

Keeping close to the wall, I turned the corner and leaned up against it, to make it look like I appeared out of nowhere. "Let's look at it this way," I started looking at the wall opposite of me. "It appeared that L trusted and respected me, so it would be safe to assume that he gave me his real name and vice versa. Light probably assumed this too, right _Matsuda_?" The flustered police man jumped at the harshness of his name. He nodded never the less. "I will say that I did know his name, and he gave it to me before I left for England for a week. If I was Kira I would've killed him then and reacted horribly when I returned, sparing Watari, the old man is…was only L's right hand man. Nothing more, nothing less.

"After that I would've disappeared. Granted, that is what I am planning on doing anyways, but there is one detail that would've been changed if I was Kira. Aizawa has a letter, and on the back there is a way to contact me. That letter wouldn't be there if I was Kira, not to mention how you guys are still alive."

I turned my head and looked at Task Force, minus the Yagami's. Now would be the best time in the world to tell them about the message I had planned to give to them. Though, I don't think that I will, implying that I was Kira proved one thing to me, they still didn't trust me. Why should I set them on the right path if that person is just doing to deny everything I say? Seeing how they _clearly_ side with Light, I would be wasting my breath, and at this point I don't know if I will see tomorrow let alone all these guys again after this.

A car, no a hearse pulled up to Aizawa's house. My day just keeps getting better and better doesn't it? I wanted to keep these two parties separate, but apparently this wasn't happening. I sighed, letting my shoulders fall as I pushed my way outside. A red head scrambled out of the car before it came to a complete stop, running toward the door. I smiled weakly and met him halfway, hugging him right there in the driveway.

"Are you alright?" he whispered as I lost it, my staid outer appearance cracking. I thought about crying into his shoulder. I couldn't I knew that Roger and Matt didn't know Japanese fluent enough to act as a translator. I turned my head to the side, and weakly shook my head. Matt didn't say anything as Roger's footsteps walked next to the two of us. I felt Matt's head that was resting on mine lift as he looked at the older man. "Give her a second, she's been holding it in all night." The gamer started rubbing circles on my back comforting me.

"I understand, she's one of the few who got to know him. Watari told this much in his e-mails," Roger replied quietly. I realized that they were in English, after being in Japan for almost a year, the language sounded weird to my ears.

"Hey! Who are you two?" asked the afro-haired man his footsteps heard, voice heavily accented as he spoke in English. I lifted my head and turned toward him slightly, holding onto Matt's hand tightly, needing the comfort as I wiped the few tears that managed to breach my defenses.

"These people are with me, taking me home," I told the Japanese men in a language they all knew, leaving Matt and Roger out of the loop. "We're taking L and Watari's bodies with us, and then I'm disappearing. Seeing how L died, it makes sense to say that we're next. I'm sorry similar accommodations can't be made for you." Mogi took a step forward, he was the only one I trusted at this moment, the only one who didn't try to say that I was Kira.

"It's fine, do what you have to do," he said curtly. I nodded and turned toward Matt, and Roger, summarizing what just happened and said that I was going to get my things, we had to start moving back to England. I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Mogi, telling him that if he ever needed to talk, to go ahead and call me.

Walking through the house, I paused when I saw Eriko in the hall. She turned and looked at me. I turned toward her and bowed respectfully. "Thank-you for allowing me to stay here," I said slowly, my emotions spilling through my voice. "I think you deserve to know the truth. I was working on the Kira case, and circumstances have lined up to where I must go home. The set-up we had before last night has crumpled under our feet. All you need to know is that Kira was involved."

Eriko looked shocked at me, almost not believing my story. I looked at her and shrugged. "Just forget you ever saw me, it'll be better for everyone." I started walking past her, going into the guest room, but she found her voice before I walked into the room.

"What happened?" she asked quietly slight disbelief in her eyes. I looked at her with an even emotionless expression. I looked at the ground and let my hair fell over my eyes as I solemnly shook my head. No one could know, only Wammy's kids –maybe -were going to find out. I sighed and walked toward the room that was lent out to me.

The curtains were drawn, the room completely dark. My suitcase was laying on the bed, still zipped and ready to go. Rem's Death Note should be resting on top, waiting for my name to be finished, or another victims name written down. That wasn't going to happen, not on my watch. I walked up to the desk where L's laptop was laying on. Maybe Matt could recover those three files I hadn't read. At this point, I was losing hope for anything good coming from these past two days.

I picked up the computer gently and tucked it under my arm as I went to the bed and picked up the small suitcase and walked out of the house. My steps shuffled across the floor as I backtracked through the house. Yumi stood at the doorway to the living room, holding a stuffed bear. I smiled and knelt down and looked her in the eyes.

"Be good for your daddy alright?" I said as I pulled her into a small hug. "We'll play again someday alright?" She nodded happily as I stood up and walked outside. My mask placed back firmly on my face as I glared at Task Force.

"Goodbye Ebony," Matsuda said looking at the ground, clearly feeling both disappointed and guilty from his actions. I handed my luggage to Roger who offered his hands. Matt took his place next to me, looking at the laptop but said nothing. I focused my glance toward Matsuda.

"Matsuda, you idiot. I may be leaving Japan, but the way you say it like I am going to leave the case and everything. Mark my words, I _will_ come back, and when I do Kira will pay for killing L, Watari, and Ukita as well as everyone else. I won't be resting much until this happens." I turned toward the car and together we walked toward it.

"Here, it's L's laptop. What was on it has been cleaned out, but I was hoping you could figure out how to recover the files if you could. If you can't we can manage. The important ones are here," I said handing him the laptop and tapped my head a few times. He opened it, looking at the black screen and running his hand along the keyboard, getting a feel for the computer without turning it on.

"I'll see what I can do. May I ask what files I'll be looking for?" He asked closing the computer and setting it aside. I turned and looked at where the back seat would be, two coffins lied there. I stared at them and mumbled that the files were in a file labeled, "read last" and they set up what to do in the future.

The air in the car became dense as the neighborhood we were in became more like the city, the mid-afternoon sun causing the shadows of the buildings to cover the streets. I looked out the passenger side window as I laid my head on Matt's shoulder. The gamer wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close.

"Ebony, how are you? Mentally, I mean," Roger asked as the car came to a stop at a red light approximately 13 miles from the building. I had no doubt in my mind he already knew where he was going, Matt probably worked his magic and found where I was long ago. Normally I'd tease him about that, but if I did I'd be put back into the psychiatrist's chair. I kept my eyes forward.

"Not too good Roger, not too good. It's not just because L is dead. It's because L is dead and now all the responsibility on solving this case is now on me. I am not ready for that Roger, not ready at all. At this point, all I want to do is get home, and curl up in bed."

"What about Kira?" He asked instantly striking a nerve. "All of this work abandoned? I apologize for bringing it up, but giving up isn't like you." I locked my jaw and turned away from him, burying my face into Matt's neck, as the tears decided to make reappearance. Damn them.

"What do you know Roger? All you have seen from me at Wammy's is an immature person who is there to help everyone feel better about themselves. My low grades, and multiple misdemeanors are a nuisance. I don't want to be L, yet I am the only one who can stop Kira anymore. Or at least I am the only one who can do it alone." I locked my jaw and closed my eyes, tears spilling over again. Matt gently pulled me closer. Instinctively I hugged him back and let more of the waterworks out and onto Matt's shirt.

I had to give Matt his props, he wasn't giving me false hopes that "everything was going to be alright." Not everything was guaranteed to be that way. Everyone knows at this point knows that I am Kira's number one target. Disappearing was the first thing I had to do, it was also the hardest. I couldn't do this alone though, that much I knew. Must we revisit me forgetting basic needs such as eating, or going to the bathroom.

I turned my head and stared at the console of the hearse. "I almost died too. Then we'd be screwed, everything is gone unless Matt can recover what's on that laptop. Otherwise, I'll have to retype everything, and I don't know how long that's going to take." Matt sighed and slowly started stroking my hair for comfort.

"Don't worry about Kira right now Eb. No one will kill you for taking a break…wrong word choice there. Either way, you finally get a vacation!" I shrugged as we pulled into the parking lot of the building L had bought. I reached under the collar of my t-shirt and pulled out the flashdrive L gave me that aslo sported the key to the building on the chain as Roger parked into a handicap spot.

I watched as Matt and Roger unloaded one casket, each of them on one side of the case. A body bag would've taken up less space in the helicopter. Sure the coffins would fit, but Roger was going to have to lay on top of them. That really didn't sound comfortable, but that's just me.

Unlocking the door, the lights automatically turned on. I motioned with my head that the two of them should follow. I lead them through a slight maze, to me it was a simple path. It was easily solved, just take the hall that looked like it lead the wrong way. A normal person would fall for it and stay away from the main room. It was a nice warning system, the dozens of cameras gave us enough time to measure up the enemy and devise a crafty counterstrike.

I pulled down my sleeves as I opened the door to the main room. A cold blast of air escaped from the room. "Sorry about the coldness, I had to keep the room cold to make sure they didn't rot. Watari is down that hall, fifth door on the right," I said pointing down the hall to my left before walking in, putting my hands in my pockets. "I will fuel up the helicopter, and finish packing. There's two up there, the one that has the keys on the driver seat is the one we're taking."

The two of them nodded and then I moved out of their line of sight and toward the elevator, watching as Matt looked at L his eyes flashing in slight disbelief that he wasn't looking at the real L. I slightly smirked and said I had a hard time believing it at first before calling the elevator.

Don't get me wrong, I like Japan and all, but Matt was right I needed a vacation.

* * *

**So close to the BB chapters, I want to just jump there, but there is some important stuff that happens in the upcoming two chapters. Like telling Mello that Ebony is L's successor….yeah he's going to take that well. **

**Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting.**

**To Kashgal and Natures Ruler: **

_**Ebony:**__ Aww Mello! You make a nice cat! *runs up and pets Mello*Who is a good Mello!_

_**Matt:**__ Ebony, be careful we don't know if this Mello bites_

_**Mello:**__ Fuck you!_

_**Ebony:**__ Bad Mello! Don't cuss. Cussing is bad. Don't make us take away your chocolate!_

_**Matt:**__ That's a bigger death sentence than petting him._

_**Pie:**__ Since when is Ebony rational?_

_**Matt:**__ …good point…_


	28. Chapter 27 This Chapter Refused a Name

**Disclaimer I don't own Death Note. You'd think 27 chapters in we'd get the drift.**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven This chapter refuses to have a name **

November 7th, 3 o'clock PM is when we arrived at "home." Judging by the amount of kids outside waiting on us, this was going to be a big funeral and not an exclusive event. That's totally not what L wanted, but everyone knew L here, and everyone at least respected him. It made sense that everyone here would be in attendance. I'll have to make sure Roger tells everyone not to spill the beans on L's death. Roger was outside with some of the older kids to get ready for a makeshift funeral, minus the church because we had mixed religions here. That, and to be honest, I wasn't sure if L had a religion, it never came up. Matt's arm was around my waist as I laid my head on his shoulder. Sure this made it awkward to walk, but I needed the comfort.

Matt steered me toward my room as he pulled my suitcase at his side. The house was bright, almost cheery, a complete opposite to the mood of everyone in the house. It was also empty, majority of the residence was outside getting things ready. It was odd not seeing scattered toys in the foyer, or random crayons under someone's latest masterpiece. The younger generation of Wammy's kids huddled around Linda's legs, their eyes showing sadness as I simply nodded in acknowledgement.

"Ebony!" yelled one little boy as he broke free and ran over to hug me, tears streaming down his face. I knelt down to her level as she started crying. "Tell us Roger's wrong. L can't die, he's a superhero!" Putting the mask on I forced a sad smile on my face. These kids weren't going to be as easy to fool.

"L is a superhero, but even superheroes have to die sometime. He isn't completely gone, someone else is just going to take on his alter ego alright?" I assured as I ruffled his hair and stood up, gently pushing him toward Linda, my mask melting off into the staid expression I have held since L had died. Taking hold of Matt's hand again I mumbled my want to be secluded, this pretending-every-thing-was-going-to-be-fine act was harder than lying about my entire life's story and keeping up with it.

Mello caught us in the hall, stepping in our way as he looked at my apathetic expression. I saw Matt give him a warning glare, something Matt didn't do often, but should be taken seriously never the less. Unfortunately Mello being the thickheaded person he was lead to the blonde shaking the warning off and said one of the more inappropriate things he could have at that very moment. There was no telling how I'd react to his crap, but it was Mello. When L is involved, unless I was naming him L's successor, there was no way I could say the right thing.

"Did you catch Kira?" I shook my head slowly, keeping my eyes to the ground, my gaze distant. "Then why the hell are you back?" Mello paused before continuing, the tone of his voice dropping, "Ebony what happened?" I blinked and met my crystal eyes with his icy ones. The corners of my mouth were turned down as my hair fell into my left eye. I watched as the color drained out of his face, eyes widening as he started to figure it out. He started shaking his head, at first it was slight, but it got more and desperate with each shake.

"Mello, L is dead," I managed to say monotonously. This broke whatever will Mello had to keep his emotions bottled up. His shocked expression then melted into one of despair, how I should've been acting. He grabbed me by the collar of my plain black t-shirt and shook me, demanding to say that I was kidding, that I wasn't being funny. I bowed my head and just listened for a moment, letting his angered, and over-the-top behavior get on my nerves until I snapped. "Get a hold of yourself Mello! Think about all the time's I've played a joke on you." He turned around and hit the wall in a desperate rage. He then turned on me again and shoved me against the wall. He raised his fist, about to punch me leaving me with no escape.

I stared the blonde down, not blinking. Sure I had a few words I wanted to tell him, but the only thing I would get would be more room in my mouth due to a few teeth being knocked out. I knew if I stood my ground though, he'd back down. I always have a comment, and he was counting on that, he knew he would get in more trouble if he wasn't provoked, and this time I wasn't going to provoke him.

"Mel cut it out! Get off of her!" yelled Matt as he pulled the blonde off of me. Keeping my detached persona, I rolled my shoulders like nothing happened. "Think for a second! She actually saw L die; how the fuck do you think she feels!" I blinked and looked at the ground. Mello growled and stormed off to do god knows what. I turned my head slightly, telling him the bad news was going to be interesting.

Matt and I walked into my room and threw my suitcase onto my bed. I stared at the dark blue bag as Matt laid L's laptop on my bare desk. He hadn't started taking the thing apart yet, and there was no real rush, I could barely hold a conversation. The gamer turned toward me and put his hands on my shoulders before pulling me into a lose hug. I hugged him back and buried my face in his shoulder. I felt Matt gently pull me closer in a saddened embrace. I broke down, I cried. He let me stand there for a moment, I hated crying.

Crying didn't necessarily show weakness, sometimes crying means that you are strong enough to admit your own feelings. No, the weakness comes from the fact that crying shows ones enemy a touchy subject. That if the subject that the crying individual is sobbing over is brought up, it will strike a nerve and make it extremely hard for that individual to think. Getting out these emotions was necessary in order to condition myself to not break down when Light mentions it –because he will –and instead either be unaffected, or extremely pissed off. I was voting on the latter.

"It's alright –no that's a lie. Ebony, I really don't know what to say," Matt said his voice dripping in concern for me. His words were slowed slightly, his tone soft and comforting. It was almost as if he was afraid his words would break me that I was made out of the most delicate crystal ever. I felt him rubbing my back gently, resting his chin on the crown of my head. I clenched my fists around his shirt.

"It's not fair!" I said through the tears. "Kira deserves to die! L did nothing wrong! Why Matt, why did I survive. I can't catch Kira like this, he's just going to keep killing while I heal. Matt, I don't consider Li-Kira human, and I consider Mello a human being. That says something. Never have I hated anything with every fiber of my being like I do Li-Kira." I had to give him props, he was patient the entire time I vented. He put in comments like "I know" or "you'll have your chance to show Kira that you're a force to be reckoned with" every couple of sentences, and even though those are the things you say just to make someone feel better it worked.

Eventually my sobs subsided to hiccups, the bags under my eyes more prominent as the area around them was now red and swollen. My face felt sticky, and to be expected Matt's shirt was wrinkled and the shoulder was wet thanks to yours truly. At that point I didn't care, and through all of my sobs, I failed to notice we weren't even standing anymore. I was sitting sideways on Matt's lap as he cradled me in a hug.

"Ebony, are you listening?" I gave him a weak "uh-huh" in response. "You're the most impulsive person I know, but it works for you. You're one of the smartest people too, and considering where we are I'd say that's an achievement in itself. You're the nicest, the most sarcastic, the loose cannon, but you also don't give up. I've gotten to know you over the years and I know that this won't stop you. The only thing I see coming from this is the fact Kira will one day hope to go to sleep to a nightmare, because you will be worse than that." It was all true, that and Matt isn't much of a liar. I can't remember anytime this guy has lied to me.

"L might be dead," he continued with a heavy sigh, "but I know that you will find Kira. It's not you to simply give up because you've hit a bump in the road, though this is more like a mountain. Give it time and you'll be back in the game. With that being said, I promise I'll be by your side no matter what." He took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. My stomach sunk when he said this. That promise didn't sit right with me, this was my fight now. I shook my head gently.

"I don't want to put your in danger Matt," I responded my voice soft and high in pitch. Matt chuckled and said that he'd be fine. That he was more worried about me doing something that costs me my own life. I shook my head childishly and turned to look at the gamer in the eyes. "Kira is going to be targeting me, and if you associate with me you will die too should that happen. It will be my mistake should that happen and I don't want you to suffer because of me. With that being said I also can't stop you from tagging along can I?" Matt nodded. I smiled and looked at the suitcase, I might want to unpack that thing.

I also wanted to tell someone about the notebook, probably Matt. He knows that I know who Kira is, and yet he isn't prying. If he is going to tag along, he needs to know just how deep this runs. It wouldn't chase him away, but it would show him just how much work we had to do. At this point, it was a lot, we had our killer. All we needed was the proof.

Sighing heavily, I uncurled from Matt's arms and open the lid again and started unpacking, I needed to keep occupied. I know that I refused to do this last night, but being here solidified the fact L was dead. Crying over it for about half an hour really helped, there was no more false hope that he'll wake up. Matt walked over and moved my head toward him. He kissed me gently before going to work on the laptop. My cold, sad insides warmed up as I blushed. Matt chuckled lightly as I pulled out all of my shirts and went to hang them up in my old Victorian style dresser.

Turning toward the door and not hearing anything gave me an idea, to forget about being sneaky with the notebook, and to go ahead and tell him right now, I just had to make sure we were truly alone. I walked to the door and listened for a second, nothing. I swung open the door, again nothing. I walked back into my room and took my pants out of my suitcase and held the Death Note under my arm as I put my pants in the floor of my dresser.

"L Lawliet and Quillish Wammy," I whispered causing Matt's fingers to skip over the keys. He turned toward me wide eyed, blinking once as I dipped my head down in a single nod. "Yes, that was their real names." I tossed him the book under my arm and turned to what was left in my suitcase and dumped them on my bed. Spiral, other computer, two chargers, pencils galore, shoes, toiletries, and my laptop. Sure I had some other…things hidden in the suitcase, but I'll unpack those at my next convenience. Matt's eyes widened as he read the inside of the notebook.

"How did you get this?" Matt asked as he pulled his goggles around his neck. I blinked and looked at him and said it was technically stolen. "Of course it is, so you stole from the Japanese Police, seems like you, no offence." A part of me wanted to correct him; technically it wasn't in procession of the police. It was straight off of a shinigami corpse. Wait a second. I shrugged and took the notebook from his hands and flipped to the back, it was blank. I felt my eyes widen.

"They're not written here," I whispered to myself and turned to the red-head and answered his unsaid question. "There were two rules written on the back. They were," I looked up at the ceiling, feeling my eyes widen as I recalled the now proven fake rules. "'If the owner of the Death Note does not write a name for 13 days he/she will die,' and 'If the Death Note is burned to destroyed all who had touched it will die.'"

"Fake rules?" I nodded grimly as I hid the notebook between my mattresses, so obvious nobody would look there. I mumbled something about that this absolutely proves that "he" really was Kira. Sure I was positive about this fact the moment L died, but this was _proof_. I couldn't share it, not with Light pulling the strings at this point. He'd just frame me and while I prove that I am not Kira, which I have no way to prove this, he will find ways to lie his way out. Nevertheless, I allowed myself to smile slightly, a slight load lifted off of my shoulders. I chuckled slightly and bowed my head. I was right! "What?"

"I'm right…I almost can't believe it. L and I were right," I said still holding back any and all emotion from my voice. I repeated the last sentence, letting some of the relief, and excitement I was feeling into my voice as I kicked my suitcase under my bead. I put the rest of my stuff on a night stand, except my laptop that was placed at the top of my book tower. All pride melted as I sat on my bed and eventually laid back. L had to die in order to get this information, nothing in being given on this case without a cost.

The fetal position is how I normally sleep, but sleep was the last thing on my mind as I went ahead and curled into that position. I started at the wall, white blemish free. What was I going to do? I couldn't go back to Japan, not after _stealing_ Kira's weapon. If that doesn't say "I'm Kira" I don't know what did. At this point anything I said to detour everyone from putting me in jail at that moment was going to be spoken to deaf ears. I sighed, rolling onto my back and put my feet flat on the bed, putting my arm over my eyes. I needed sleep, but I knew where it was going to lead.

I was going to see that moment again, slower in more detail. It was like editing camera footage, the action will be preserved and the background will be blurred. In the case of this memory, L's death was the action, as was Light's smile. In the end, I was going to wake up screaming and sweating. Even here miles away from the scene, in the middle of the day, I was watching L die, over, and over. Light's scared shocked expression as he saw that I wasn't following the detective's trip to death. I survived though, and I am still asking why?

"Hey Eb, I'm not going to be able to save anything on this. I've reformatted the hard drive, uploaded L's voice changer, and gave you the best computer security known to man," said Matt spinning in my chair and looked at me through his goggles. I jumped slightly, the gamer snapping me out of my inner lamenting. I turned my head toward him, keeping my arm across my forehead.

"Thanks Matt," I said and turned toward the door, Roger was going to want to get the funeral over with as soon as possible. I was actually waiting for him to knock on the door and ask me to give my spill on who L really was, I mean it's not like the entire world knew who he really was. "I'm going to shower, though I don't really see the point. Days end up melting into a weeks and I end up getting lost within time. Who knows when I'll actually shower again. For all I know it'll be years." I looked at the clothes I was wearing, they looked clean. I shrugged and pulled a "clean" pair of pants and the vampire t-shirt, yeah the "bite me" one.

"Do you want me to leave?" I shrugged and said I was just going to change in the bathroom anyways. "Yeah, but you know Roger. I'll go see how the, uh funeral is going. Don't drown." He stood up and kissed my forehead before walking out. Nice words of wisdom Matt, I really needed those. "Don't drown," there goes my plan. Smirking slightly, I turned toward the door for a moment before going into my bathroom and stepped into the shower.

"_Ebony," L said causing me to look up from the file I was currently reading. It was another dead criminal, this one was a serial rapist, a pleasant thing to be reading at 2 in the morning let me tell you. He was standing behind me, holding something behind his back. For someone who was good at hiding things, he wasn't too good at hiding things. I hopped to my knees and draped my arms around the back of the chair smiling._

"_Yes Ryuzaki?" I asked in a sing-song manner. "Wait! Don't tell me!" I held out my hand palm up and put my other hand on my forehead like I was a psychic trying to make a prediction. "Uhm…I know! Unicorns have taken over Japan and we must sacrifice the craziest brilliant mind here to please their gods? It's alright, you gotta do what you gotta do." I stood up and walked over to the taller detective, holding my hands up, in surrender. L just rolled his eyes at me. _

"_Ebony, do you know what day it is?" I smiled and shook my head, it was sometime in March that's all I knew. "Today is the 17th." I felt my jaw drop in shock, doesn't take a genius to know where this was going. I scanned his face and saw that his emotionless face was cracking, he felt awkward, out of place. I scrambled to my feet and voiced my disbelief._

"_No freaking way!" I yelled as I stepped over a line –hey this was progress people –as I hugged the secluded detective. "Alright, I think I know the answer, but who's idea was it?" L handed me a wrapped present. I smiled at the paper, it had tiny teddy bears on it. It was so cute!_

"_Watari reminded me of the date, and I sent him to pick this up one day." So, I was actually wrong, or partially wrong. Watari planted the idea in his head. Sneaky old man, Watari is. I nodded and like every kid shook the box gently, hearing pencils hit each other. I ripped open the pencils and saw the mother lode of colored pencils. 150 different colors in one box, the rainbow has never been so pretty! _

"_OMIGOD!" I yelled, what it's not every day I see this many different shades of blue, green, and every other color known to man. It was like a unicorn threw up! "Thank-you L! This is amazing! I don't normally color my drawings, mainly because I lose the pencils. That's beside the point! Holy Cow! I won't lose these, I can promise you this." I was smiling ear to ear as Watari walked in with a sketch spiral with a picture in the front cover. _

"_Happy Birthday Ebony," L said with his thumb in his mouth as I studied the picture. Watari repeated the phrase as I walked over and hugged him, tucking the picture in his pocket. I jumped onto my chair and picked up a pencil, and I started drawing._

I closed my eyes and wiped away my tears as I looked at the picture in my sketchbook. It was L crouched in his chair, me copying his stance as we played chess one late night. Our faces were lit up by the screen of the laptop, me laughing L almost smiling. There were files scattered all over the room, a few laptops on the desk as well. Dirty dishes on in front of the both of us indicating how hard we were thinking. I don't know when Watari took this picture, but I made a copy, for L, gave it to him March 23rd at around 7 in the morning.

I jumped at a slight knock at my door. I put the sketchbook on my bed and walked to the door opening it to see Matt, Mello, Near, and Roger. It was time. I guess I couldn't have dodged this bullet forever. I nodded and walked out, closing my door, instantly taking Matt's hand. I bowed my head, my still wet bangs covered my eyes. I felt Matt rub the back of my hand gently as we made our way outside. I saw Near walking beside me, looking up and seeing a stray tear leak out of my eye. He gently grabbed my other hand. I looked at him curiously, the albino responding with a shrug and avoided my gaze.

I closed my eyes and turned my head away from the setting sun and the drastic change by walking outside. The entire orphanage turned and looked at me, their expressions melting into one of sadness, greif, sympathy. I met each and every one of their eyes, through my hair as I walked to the front, my expression blank. I paused as I saw two caskets laid open.

"We found this in L's pocket," said Mello sadly handing me a piece of paper, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder. I tore my eyes from the caskets and looked at the blonde, he was living up to his name for once. I took the page and gingerly unfolded it, slightly confused. I lifted my head slightly, it was the copy of the picture in my sketchbook, it had my "E" in the corner. The colors were slightly smudged, and there was one spot worn at the top of the page, about the size of his thumb. He looked at the picture a lot.

I walked over to L's casket and folded the page again, tucking it between the death pillow and the casket padding. I looked at his dead body for a second, my hands shaking, my stomach dropping to my feet, blood running cold. He kept it on his person, for how long? Does it matter at this point? Hmm, I suppose not, but I was still curious. I turned toward Watari, not caring if everyone was waiting for me to say something. This was emotional for me; I had come to see the guys as family. They had been ripped from my hands, just like the first one.

"Ebony?" asked Roger from behind me. I turned so I could look at him from the corner of my eye and slightly nod, knowing I was going to have to tell everyone who they were as people and not titles, I was the only one who knew. I stuck my hands in my pockets and turned to face the crowd. I bowed my head, not being able to look at all of these crushed spirits in the eye.

"I know what you guys are probably expecting. Me say that I knew their real names and then tell you. However, though the two of them knew about the revised name rule I only knew L's real name before they fell into their painful eternal rest. On top of that the unsaid rule has an unsaid clause about how a second party isn't allowed to tell a third party the name of the first party under any circumstances," I said my voice even monotone, I heard some shuffling, I only knew this because that's what I'd expect.

"I will tell you about L and Watari from my 11 months with the two of them. I suppose since I'm the only one who really has anything to say I'll start with first impressions. I –like many of you –thought that L was going to look rich, but instead I saw a skinny man wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans that were too big for him, he was barefoot and his hair was really messy. Instead of going with the expected me, and say something crazy, I simply said 'Hello Ryuzaki' Ryuzaki being the alias layered on his alias." I partially lied, I know you can't really blame me so deal with it, ok?

"He was quiet like Near, passionate like Mello, and sometimes unpredictable like myself. He crouched in chairs, bit his thumbs and had a sweet tooth rivaled to Mello's. He didn't really trust anyone, kept almost everything bottled up inside. It was a tough shell to crack, I'll admit. We disagreed at moments, but he's not used to people standing up to him, it was clear. Kira will pay, that's a promise." I had my hands clenched as I slightly turned toward Watari's corpse.

"In the time I was in Japan, I learned how he worked. At first that wasn't my goal, but after he proved he wasn't like most of the people I've tried to work with and didn't get mad at me after I got hyper from coffee, I was intrigued. Sure, when I was stealing his cake and held it hostage, he was annoyed, but he distracted me and dealt with the 'problem' rather than isolate me until I was manageable. Then as we investigated, though he was slightly faster than me, and our ways of coming to the conclusions we did were different, I was still faster than the experienced cops. Still, he was number one the entire time, just like his reputation."

"Watari, though having just figured this out, is actually Quillish Wammy, draw your own conclusions. Wammy was like my dad, my first one wasn't around long enough for that title in my book. He was calm, collected and eager to help. He was good with advice and was extremely patient, more than me that's for sure. He was the only person L trusted completely. This much I am positive on. He's also really good with guns, shot a gun out of another man's hand while I was flying a helicopter." I bowed my head lower and shook it.

"He was a great man, both of them were. That's why I promise Kira, by my hand or not, will be brought down. Mello, Near, everyone knows it's between the three of us who is to be L's successor, and I want to say that I've had a full night's sleep when I tell you. I don't know how long that will take, and this also gives me time to plan how to prove a point, so until then you won't be seeing much of me, I have some matters I need to tend to. I'll be in my room if you need me."

I walked off not saying another word, pausing only because my name was called. I turned around and caught an apple that was thrown to me from Mello. I turned and looked at the fruit. _L, did you know Gods of Death love apples?_ I was really starting to think I couldn't simply look at an apple without thinking this phrase. Either way, I wanted to find this shinigami, I had a few questions for him. I bit into the fruit and walked off.

I left my door open as I sat at my desk and opened a word document and started typing. This wasn't by memory, but it was premeditated while I was thinking about what significance this laptop had. This will be the second most powerful tool we had, if that. I kept eating the apple, Kira you better watch your back, not once but twice. I am unpredictable; you should know this by now.

_Near, or Mello depending on which one of you is reading this, _

_This is everything _everything,_ pertaining to the Kira case. L's thoughts, my thoughts and a list of every victim of Kira and what they have done to deserve to be added to the casualty list. I said that Kira was going to be stopped one way or another, and me not telling you everything was more, or less, a method I was using to prove to the two of you that together you really are L, but when one of you doesn't want to cooperate (Mello) _ _it's pointless._

_If you are reading this, and judging by the fact Matt probably is torn up emotionally at this moment, you can probably guess what happened to me. Yes, I'm dead, Kira got to me found my name, my real one. It seems I was put into checkmate, but since when does real life play by the rules of chess? Now the King, one of the Knights and a Queen captured. What moves will you play now? _

_~Ebony Lawliet._

"You're not going to die you know," said Matt behind me, causing me to jump out of my skin. "Sorry, should've knocked." I shook my head as Matt spun my chair around and looked me in the eye, his goggles resting on his crown. I opened my mouth to argue but he reiterated his point, this time his voice sterner.

I smiled at him as he picked up my laptop with one hand, his hand in my other and lead me to my bed. I looked at the comfy monstrosity. Shrugging I threw myself on top of it, hugging my knees as Matt put the laptop within arm's reach. I paused and looked up at him. He smiled as he sat next to me, both of our backs against the wall. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer as he pulled out his PSP and turned it on. I started typing what I was told to read from this very laptop.

"Thanks Matt," I said as I leaned onto his shoulder. I felt his cheek rest on the top of my head as he asked me what for. "For being you, I know you have my back and won't rush me to get myself back together. You're also persistent enough to stay with me even when the door is showing more emotion than me." Matt chuckled and lifted his head from mine, causing me to pause and look up at him. I lifted my eyebrows in confusion.

"Ebony, I do all of this because I love you." Warmth fluttered inside me, and I felt myself blush. I smiled as I cuddled closer to his chest and hugged him.

"I love you too."

* * *

**Привет****!**

**So, this is what happens when I don't want to write and have the weirdest urge to edit. The chapter name is self explanatory. So, yeah I have nothing else to say here…So…yeah I am going back to the wonderful world of the internet!**

**Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting. **

**До свидания!**


	29. Chapter 28 Chess Peices

**Disclaimer: It's the same as the past 27 chapters. I Don't own Death Note. Got it? Good.**

**Chapter Twenty-eight Chess Pieces**

Now I must've been dreaming. I mean, it was either that or my eyes died. Given my sleeping schedule, or lack thereof, I didn't blame my eyes. I was standing in a realm of blackness, white feathers flying around me, all going to the direction in front of me. Under my feet was an ashen colored stone, this was so surreal. There was no wind, but the feathers kept tumbling further, and further into the darkness. I looked around, nothing.

Now, I've played enough games to know that stuff was about to do down if I followed the feathers. At the same time however, this was a dream. The worst thing that could happen is that I'll wake up. Rolling my shoulders back, and taking a deep breath in, I followed the feathers, I mean what else was there to do? My footsteps took on a casual playful manner, half skipping. It was better described as a waltz-like shuffle. I held my hands behind my back as I stepped forward, tapped the back of my shoe with my other foot and then step forward. I started humming to myself, no real tune came to mind.

It's hard to explain, but the feeling of being exhausted was gone. The fear that Light was going to find me was gone. And the dreading feeling that was associated with my protest of the impending task of telling Mello he wasn't L's successor was gone. It came down to, I felt like Ebony again. It was nice, I liked feeling normal. I actually have forgotten how great dreams were, how relaxing they were. It was a nice escape.

I stopped as I heard a sound, a clank of metal. I let go of my hands and turned to look over my shoulder, my eyes now slightly narrowed. Nothing, it was complete darkness. Strange. I shrugged and started skipping again, pausing when the clank was heard again. I looked down at what I was wearing, it was a darker variation of what Zidane from Final Fantasy 9 wore, the vest and pants were black, other than that it was spot on. A fluffy dress shirt, vest combo with like two or three belts and jeans, I was weaponless but I don't think that mattered. I deduced that the sound was coming from the metal buckles hitting one another. That took me way to long to figure out. Ah well, it was my dream and I was tired.

My hand was held out palm outward as a feather landed in my palm, turning from pure white to a raven color. A frown appeared on my face. Raven, that word, the meaning of the word has a deeper meaning to me. I suppose it was only natural for the feather to turn this color I guess. My name was a synonym for the word. It would be odd for the feather to have stayed the same color I watched the feather as it flew from my grasp, moving faster than the other feathers.

Impulse took over and I ran to catch up with it. Feathers behind me followed my pace as I saw the end of a cliff. My breath caught as I skid to a stop, falling equals death. That's not good! I paused and looked around, there was no other way. The way I had came was gone, I had to jump. Well, like my decision to follow the feathers in the first place, my reasoned lead with the worst thing that could happen was the threat of waking up. I closed my eyes, and leaned forward, falling. Time slowing down as I fell, arms stretched in a "T."

Great, this was a falling dream, should be waking up anytime now right? I closed my eyes and waited. Any minute now I'll wake up. No? Alright that's cool too subconscious I'll just keep falling to my death. I turned to my back, I wanted this to be painless, by exposing my back to the impact the chances of my spine breaking and the vertebra severing my spinal cord was really high. Morbid I know, but I didn't want to suffer in my dream. It's supposed to be an escape.

I landed gently though, no bounce. It was actually comfortable. I ran my hands on the ground, as I looked up at a bright blue sky, grass. Not the dry grass I remember from LA, but not the same that was at Wammy's either. It was like how one thought grass should feel like, soft and there was the void of the feeling of things crawling around in it. I sat up slowly as impulse again told me to turn around. I twisted my hips so I could see behind me better. There was a shadow figure hunched over staring out from another cliff.

Standing up, I slowly walked toward the figure, small blue and black butterflies fluttered from the small flowers that laid scattered in the grass. My steps were even as the shadow figure took form. I froze, it was L. My mouth spread into a smile. My god, he was alive, or sort of alive. Was I going crazy? I guess it doesn't matter, it's a dream. He wasn't dying and that's all that mattered. He was standing, hunched over, one hand in his pocket the other near his mouth, just like he always had.

"L?" I asked almost in disbelief as I leaned forward to get a better look at his face. L turned toward me and actually smiled. Yeah, this was totally a dream. Even though I knew this, I still couldn't bring myself to hug him. I've only done that once or twice in his life, and even if this was a figment brought on by memories and despair, it didn't change how awkward it would be if I hugged him.

L looked at my hand as it hung limply in front of my chest, my biceps flexing to prevent me from launching myself onto the detective. He rolled his shoulders back, his entire body going rigid as it became obvious that he was thinking about doing something that would cause him to feel uncomfortable. I tilted my head to the side and froze up as L hugged me unexpectedly.

"Not that I'm complaining that I'm actually dreaming for once but, uh what are you doing here?" I asked after the hug which I eventually returned. L turned back to the abyss as I sat on the end, kicking my feet. The wind blew hair into my face. This hid my smile that spread across my face. This was one of the best dreams I have ever had, and he hasn't even said anything.

"Thinking," L responded plainly. It was so nice to hear his calm voice. I closed my eyes and bowed my head to hide the happy tears spilling over my eyelids before turning and looking up at him a question painted on face. I prompted him to elaborate. "How is it you survived Ebony? I mean I had a suspicion you were, but it was slim, only about a 21% chance. I am also relieved to know that Light was Kira, I wasn't wrong after all." I smirked same old L. Even in death his inquisitive nature doesn't stop.

"If you can't figure it out, what maked you think I can give you an answer? I mean after Rem disappeared, looking for her was the last thing on my mind. I had to get out of the building and collect my thoughts. I was an emotional wreck. However, when I got to my room, in the middle of the floor was a pile of dust and a notebook. I took the notebook, it's with me back in England. Haven't told Mello and Near who Kira is yet. I don't think I am until they get their bearings. As for what I'm going to do next, I really don't know." L nodded and crouched next to me. He looked at me with his panda stare, it was evident in my voice that this was hard to talk about. Now I know why Mello is always mad, being this emotional was hard.

"Laying low would be the best option. Based on what we know about Light, he will go to all lengths to get rid of anyone who opposes him. By keeping a low profile you could take advantage of Matt's skills and get information covertly. He is most likely going to frame you for being Kira based on the fact you have a notebook unsupervised by the Japanese Police. I wouldn't kill him, if you do that Task Force will arrest you for being Kira. That would be counterproductive, you are me now. I can't get arrested." I nodded in agreement, letting a smile spread across my face. The way he said those last two sentences were almost playful. Maybe I did have an effect on his personality after all. I mean one can only deal so much of my playful childish nature before it started rubbing off.

"Yeah, gotta get out of England. I was thinking about America, super power of the world. If I can get enough support through them it'll be easy to get this proof I need. Also, that's where I'll try to herd Mello and Near, just in case me being you doesn't work out. You had a back-up plan; it's only fair I do too. Oh just remembered! Roger gave me a key to your room. I haven't gone in there yet, I didn't exactly have permission, and Matt could tell….never mind. I was exhausted so I didn't go in there."

" It would be beneficial for you to go in there. There are credit cards hidden that you will find useful. Don't worry, everything you need to have them work is included. As always there is a code in place. Payments will automatically come out of one of m bank accounts." I blinked and looked at him. He has planned this far ahead? I mean I knew from early on he suspected that he was going to die, but the more I found out about his plans, the more amazed I was. After a pause, lifted my hand and poked him in the cheek. The detective looked at me and let his face twist in confusion. "What was that for?"

"I don't know, got bored. Trying to enjoy not having the same nightmare over and over when I take a nap every couple of days or so," I responded with a shrug looking down into the abyss. "Matt's being stubborn, but in a good way. He brings me food and forces me to eat by taking away my computers and books. He makes me try to sleep by giving me de-cafe coffee until I crash." I smiled and bowed my head.

"He cares about you." I nodded distantly. "Are you going to talk to Backup?" My head shot up and I stared at him. He used his alias. L, to my knowledge, wouldn't use an alias of someone other than himself unless it was needed, or he didn't know their real name. BB was no longer a Wammy's kid, why would L use this name?

"Now, I know you well enough to know that you don't consider Beyond a Wammy's kid," I started narrowing my eyes. "Why didn't you use that name, or BB?" L smiled, a real smile. That's when I really noticed it; L wasn't really acting like L. Everything he had said had an up-beat to it. It was filled with emotion, some emotion. Even when he was explaining things he seemed…relaxed. I was losing my touch, this isn't good, not good at all.

"To be honest, I wanted to see if you noticed." I shook my head and smirked. "Also, you dodged the question just like I figured you would. I don't blame you for doing so. I impressed the idea to you that he was dangerous. It was a normal response."

I laid back and looked up, genuinely surprised that my dream had a sky. L turned to looked at me as I let a smile spread across my face. This was nice. L's good mood was contagious. I had no worries, no stressors, this is the most relaxed I've felt since the fight L and I had together. I did nothing and I liked it.

L turned to look over his shoulder at me. He smiled and then poked me in my cheek. I sat up and looked at him like he had just committed a sin. "I was bored," he said playfully. I pushed my invisible sleeves up and shoved him, hoping to throw him off balance, I was the one that fell over.

"That didn't work according to plan," I commented as I shook my head to get the hair out of my face. I heard a foreign chuckle. My eyes widened in shock, L. The emotionless board of a person that somehow was just as childish as me laughed. I won't lie, a part of me thought that the world around me was going to collapse.

I raised my arms over my head and cowered, expecting an explosion, or an earthquake, or the ledge crumbling under me, or a giant teddy bear stampeding through the field of flowers. Nothing happened. Nothing at all, strange.

"Ebony, what are you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, well you chuckled!" I was swinging my arms madly around and then stopped as I evaluated what I had said. "'chuckled' as in the past, never to happen again. Because you are dead…I'm sorry I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Why? It's the truth. I am dead Ebony, nothing will change that." L looked up and frowned. The warm mood of the air changed as the detective blinked a few times. He genuinely looked sad. "Ebony, I am glad to call you my friend. It's in your hands now." He stood up and started to walk off, toward Watari. When did he get there? I mean, it was nice to see him again, but the fact that he hadn't said anything was a little depressing. The old man has never looked better, actually he looked younger. The lines on his face weren't as deep. L paused and turned toward me to say one last thing. "I'll be there when you bring Kira to justice. Good luck Ebony." I nodded with my lips pressed into a fine line. I promise L, I will.

XxX

I was laying on my stomach, arm draped over the side of the bed when I came back to the real world. Immediately I noticed I was able to concentrate better, even with my eyes closed I knew what was going on. I heard some buttons getting a good mashing as Matt cussed at the game. I knew he wasn't on the bed, there was nothing else to counteract my weight on the bed. That meant he was in the chair across the room. I distinctly remember falling asleep on his chest.

This gave me a rough estimate on how long I've been asleep; Matt always went to his room at night. I pushed myself up and noticed I was drooling, gross! I wiped my face and frowned as I rolled over and sat on the bed, stretching. Matt was smiling as he pulled the goggles from his face. No nightmare. I scratched my head and then my nose.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked a little dazed, rubbing my eyes. Matt turned to look at the laptop screen, crossing his arms. He sighed told me about a day. I nodded, it was completely reasonable. Over a month without sleep and being emotionally strained takes it out on a person. I was by no means "caught-up" in my required amount of sleep, but at this rate that will never happen. My eyes will forever have the dark bags if I continue to be productive.

"I really don't want to rush you, but I'm sick of Mello almost killing me whenever I go to eat or walk around asking when you're going to tell him who L chose. So for the sake of everyone's sanity, when are you going to tell them?" He asked tilting his head to the side. I said that I had to prove to them that L had made the right decision. At this point, I had been stubborn and hid my true intelligence. No one here knew who the "real" Ebony was. "So, you're going to play chess against them? You're going to win." I smirked and stood up, stretching.

"Yeah, then I'll play a two-V-one and lose. Together I won't be able to win," I said crossing the room. I opened one of my desk drawer and pulled out two envelopes that were sealed with wax. Inside there were letters, one to Near, the other to Mello, written by L, signature copied by me. Matt and I had one too, but I haven't even printed mine off. I looked at the blonde's letter, I was going to need a little help, once I get out of here. Mello's good at thinking on his feet. I was positive he could get weapons illegally within a week, and that's exactly what I needed.

"Matt, I am going to need you to set up a Rendezvous for Mello in New York. We'll tail him when we can. Offer it to him, he'll take it. It's not like he has the money to get to America on his own. Also, tell him that if he sets us up with weapons that I'll help him get into the Kira investigation Mello style." Matt nodded as I looked at the envelopes again, the gamer typing at the laptop in front of him.

I didn't want to read my letter, I wasn't ready. I wouldn't be ready until Kira was caught, and not a moment sooner. Until then I'll keep it on the flashdrive L gave me. I clasped my hand around it, the other necklace I had on rested on the back of my fist. I turned toward another drawer, grabbing a taser and some earplugs. I was ready, it had to be done. So many dreams have already been crushed in this world, what's one more?

Matt stood up and took my free hand in his. Together we opened the door and walked through the halls of the familiar orphanage. People in the halls were stopping and watching the two of us pass. Shock taking over the expression over most of their faces, others complete resentment.

"Matt, what's today's date?" I tilted my head to the side in thought completely ignoring the stares that were placed on my back. Matt shrugged and responded with a date, December 5th. So it was an entire month has passed. I guess Matt was right about getting some sleep, I needed it. After this I was going back to sleep, maybe I'll go outside I've always loved standing in a snow covered tree.

I knocked confidently at Roger's door, something I normally didn't do. Knocking was normally out of the question. The air vents was a lot more direct and unexpected. It was also behind the desk so I could scare Roger out of his chair. I was a more of the "barge in unannounced" type. Matt raised an eyebrow at my maturity. Putting on the mask much like L did, I avoided his gaze, not because I wanted to, but because I needed to be serious. Being serious while the butterflies in my stomach was impossible. I instead took hold of his hand and squeezed it, smiling.

"Ebony!" exclaimed Roger in disbelief, opening the door wider to let Matt and me in. I simply walked into the familiar dark office and smiled at the chair that was used to scold me for my paint filled antics, misuse of books, taking advantage of the air ducts, and hiding from authority. I could go on, but we'd be here all day. "What is this about?" I crouched L-like in the chair and gestured toward the chair in front of me, waiting to Roger to sit down and looked at Matt with inviting eyes, blinking a few times.

The air of the room was uncomfortable, but I meant it to be. The way I saw it, Roger should recognize this, and as he walked to his desk. He must've talked to L while he was a kid, from what I've heard, L wasn't exactly the poster child. To my amusement, there was the light of knowing in his eyes. I dipped my head in a nod as Matt leaned against his desk, crossing his arms. He was slightly confused, however he probably figured this was an L thing. I nodded slightly toward him, and he seemed satisfied, Matt was a smart guy even though he didn't try.

"Roger, it's time to reveal who should succeed L. I will explain what will happen first before we bring Mello and Near in, that way I won't have to explain it multiple times. It's not going end well, that much I will say upfront," I said as I looked up at Roger who nodded. "I am going to challenge them to a game of chess, Near first so Mello can get the 'advantage' and see how I play. We haven't played a serious game before, and is most likely he is going to be a little cocky." I tossed Matt the taser. "Matt will be beside him with a taser in case the he –who he is, won't help the other player in any way. After they have both lost I will challenge a two versus one game with me wearing earplugs so I can't hear them." I lifted my head and cocked it to the right and held up the envelopes. "I will then give them this, a letter from L and then I'll tell them who is the true successor to L."

I paused, I just explained everything. I let my head fall to my chest. Oh well, Mello and Near probably won't need this explanation, or at least this deep. Either way, I was sure the two rounds won't need my input, only to explain the taser in Matt's hands.

"Mello isn't going to be happy about it, Eb, be careful. We both know how we gets," Matt said as I lifted my head. It was to be expected, Mello's entire world revolved around being L. He was the one that made this entire thing a competition. I was taking that victory from him. I stood up and walked to the chess table that was always set up ready to play. Roger left the room and went to get the two of them. I bit my bottom lip in thought.

"I know, working with Mello after this is going to be hard. Convincing him to work his us is going to be the biggest challenge. In order for what I'm thinking about doing to work, we're going to need his help. Though knowing him, he's going to be predictable at being unpredictable. The only hope we have is to point him the direction we need him to go in," I said, Matt nodding in agreement. He looked at the taser sadly, a distant look in his eye. He didn't remember it.

I smiled and tapped the black plastic devise, explaining that it was the one we had messed with, making the charge weaker than most. In theory it will be enough to hurt Mello to shut him up, but not to make his muscles turn to jell-o. That would be funny though. Still, compared to other ways we could make sure Mello didn't interrupt this was pretty low-key. "You and Wires are the ones that messed with it, I can't believe you forgot," I commented as the door opened. I turned and stood on my knees to watch as Mello ran in before the door was completely opened. Here we go.

"Ebony! Who is it! Who is L's successor!" demanded Mello immediately coming toward me and shook my shoulders, his voice showing the expectation he wanted clear as day. I shook my head and put my finger to my lips. I smiled childishly as I did this, holding my chin up, acting more like the Ebony that annoyed him. "Tell me!" I was shaken slightly as Near seemed to stop twirling his hair and walked over to the seat opposite of me. "I can't lose, not to him, not again!" He wanted an answer, who was I to deny him this? I sighed and pried his hand off of my shoulders and stood up, looking him in his eyes.

"Mello when will you learn, that this is not a win-or-lose situation. It's only that way because you make it to be. The entire time, the entire the 'competition' has been to see who can solve the puzzle the most efficiently. Not just the fastest, but the most thorough," I responded looking at the blonde. He looked appalled at me, his eyes wide, not blinking at all. His lips parted as he shook his head in denial. "Sure speed is a factor when the participants are as advanced as us. The difference between you and Near lies in how you take the case. Near sees it as a puzzle, you see it as you're proving ground."

"This is only a game. Mello, perhaps you should look at it this way; if you can't beat the game, if you can't solve the puzzle, you are nothing but a loser," Near said as I turned toward him, not helping. He was actually provoking Mello, and I was sure he knew this, and he was contradicting what I had just said. This was unlike him, from what I could tell, he liked Mello. The blonde obviously didn't share the feeling, but still this was kind of harsh. "Mello, if you think you are a loser, why do you keep playing?" Oh here we go, I fell back into the chair and shifted my position and sat how I normally sat in a chair with my legs draped over one arm rest my back against the other.

"I play so that someday I can win. I will beat you Near. Ebony, what are you doing?" I lifted an ivory pawn from my side of the board and looked up. My expression toward Mello was completely blank, and this was really hard. I wanted to say something, but I had to remain objective here. I couldn't always be there. There is no promise that I'll still be alive next year. Sighing, I pointed toward where Matt was sitting and said nothing.

"I'm playing chess, please be quiet, I don't want Near to get any third party help, trust me Mello," I said softly and gently, bowing my head using my hair as a curtain to prevent him from seeing my eyes. "Kira gets the notebook and kills Kuro Otoharada and saves 8 hostages," I said as I moved one of my pawns up one space. Near looked up at me and moved a pawn forward, the one in front of the one I had just moved, the center pawn. "L finds out about this killing and others that match a pattern and announced to the Japanese Police that he is working on the case." I heard Mello catch his breath. I smiled to myself slightly as Near simply narrowed his eyes and looked at me briefly. Two moves in and it was already going just like I planned.

Near and I moved pawn around until there was an opening, left purposefully. I looked up at Near as he took it. Nodding slowly, I turned toward Mello and Matt blinking a few times before turning back to the board. "L puts a proxy stand-in on live television knowing Kira was probably watching." I took Near's pawn and put it on the table as I looked into his grey eyes. "Kira kills Lind L Tailor believing he has won, that our mentor was dead." I bit the inside of my lip. I wasn't there, being here at Wammy's while this all happened, I was completely ignorant until I watched the recording L had. I remembered the shock, the excitement. Near twisted his hair around his index finger in thought. Another pawn of mine was captured. "L reveals the location of Kira on the same program." I finished the exchange by capturing the last pawn, the numbers dwindling fast. "Criminals are exclusively killed in this region and are also killed every hour on the hour."

Matt narrowed his eyes slightly. He saw me type this, I was probably whispering what I was typing as I typed it. I was exhausted by then, my memory of the past month is a little fuzzy. I left out a big detail here in the game. He knew it, I knew it, Task Force knew it, and Light knew it. I wasn't going to tell them, it was a detail that was never revealed. I wasn't planning on telling either of them the details, I didn't have too and in Mello's eyes if this was a competition it would be cheating if I did so.

"What the hell are you-ow! Dammit Matt! Ouch! Quit it! I'm about to shove that taser so far up your-" I smiled, typical Mello. Chuckling lightly with Matt, I sat back and crossed my arms. We were enjoying this way too much. Roger couldn't really do anything to stop this, though I don't think he wanted too, he was getting just as much of a kick as we were. Besides, we warned him.

"Mello! I told you no talking," I smirked as I watched Near take his next move. I calmly responded and played in response. The rest of the pawns went down on Near's side, the FBI agents coming in. The first major piece, a knight was captured, it was ebony. I was the ivory pieces. "The FBI agents die." I let one of my pawns get captured. "One FBI agent's death is narrowed down and Naomi Misora disappears."

My fists clenched as I remembered her disappearance. So close, I almost found her. Still, she was missing. It was clear that at this point she was dead, it's almost been a year we had every right to believe this given the situation. I didn't want to believe that this was true. Sadly, like the other things I wanted to believe, like L being not dead, that there was gold at the other end of the rainbow, that dressing up in a bear costume made you invisible, and teleportation pads will be ready for consumer use tomorrow, it just wasn't going to be true.

The game went on like this until my queen stood in front of Near's king leaving the piece nowhere else to move due to my bishop across the board, and my rook on the row behind his king, only his queen, and bishops remained. "Checkmake, Kira uses a Shinigami to kill L and Watari, game over." I frowned and sat back. My shoulders fell and I shook my head. "Kira wins." Near sat in his chair narrowing his eyes thoughtfully at what was left. It was what I expected of Near, but hey I had a month to plan this out. I gave away no information, no more than the media would've if this investigation wasn't totally top secret.

"Ebony, you're saying if I was L I would've lost?" The kid asked after a pause. Just what I expected of him, straight to the conclusion and not really considering why I did what I did. He was the kind of person who would fill in the details after he came to a conclusion. I nodded as he started twirling his hair again. "Would you please explain to me why you were the Ivory pieces? You could've just as easily won like this as the onyx pieces." I lifted the king on the board with my right hand as my left put the captured pieces back on the board. Near knew the answer I've explained this before, but his eyes were pointed to a very confused Mello. I followed his gaze by slightly dipping my head and looking through my hair and nodded slightly.

"It's actually simple, in a crime who moves first, criminal or the cops?" I paused and leaned back, scratching the back of my head and sighing. "Mello, it's your turn." The players switched as the game was played differently. Mello was more of an offensive player. He played aggressively taking every risk brought onto him with consideration. This normally worked out for him in terms of intimidation, but the result was the same. I, or Kira, won again. The same three pieces remained, bishops and the queen. Mello narrowed his eyes at the pieces, his eyes widening when he figured it out.

"Those two are me and Near aren't they?" He pointed to the bishops, his other hand clenched in anger. I nodded as I gestured for Near to pull the another chair up. "You're the queen." Mello trailed off in thought as I pulled out my earplugs and looked across the table. I ignored the last statement. Even though I couldn't find a better piece to represent me, as a queen I felt too powerful. It felt wrong.

Mentally shaking my head to get the thoughts out, I explained the plan to the two of them as I reset the board again. The two of them looked at each other, Mello's face showed one of complete resentment, Near's was calm and void of emotion. Rolling my eyes, this was going to be a long game of chess. I couldn't act as peace maker unless Mello stands up in outrage. Then again, I wouldn't be able to anyways if plan C was going to be put in action either. I put the earplugs in my ears and waited closed my eyes as the muffled voices were heard.

This game was visibly more intense. I was now crouched like L, thumb nail in my mouth. The two of them were smart, covering their mouths as they talked so I couldn't read their lips. This made things a lot more fun. Serious faces on all three of us. Lines of intense concentration decorated all of our faces. The game took easily as long as the two games before, possibly even the games combined. Matt and Roger stepped out and came back with a box of Mello's chocolate and a few bowls of fruit for me. Near had a slight advantage, he was already in his element. Mello and I needed this outside stimulus to perform at our best.

After my third bowl of fruit I wanted to sit back, sigh. I was losing, big time. Sure by the pieces on the board it didn't look that way, but combine Near and Mello and how they were playing, and it ended with me losing by a narrow margin. However, I knew that L would never would let it appear that he was losing, and Light wouldn't either. I had to sit there and play like I was going to win.

"Checkmate, onyx pieces win Kira is defeated." I sat back and ran my hand through my hair, Mello not wasting any time to ask the burning question. I looked at him sadly and avoided his gaze by staring at the bookshelf to my right. "L and I were talking he convinced me that I should step up to succeed him on this case, afterwards it's up in the air. They reason I did this was to show you two that you can work together and be better than Kira, I won't be able to do this alone. My plans after the case are leaning toward retirement. That's when you two takeover the position together. I also have these, don't know what is written, all I did was copy L's signature." I sat back as Mello's eyes widened in shock. He bowed his head after I handed him his letter.

Parts of me expected him to fan-boy and ask if it was his real name written on the letter. But the Mello that sat across me was defeated. His hands were clenched into fists, anger overwhelming him. This was the reality, the rational side of me knew that this is how the blonde was going to react from square one. I looked at Matt and he stood up, everyone unsure how the chocoholic was going to react.

"I'm leaving…this institution," Mello said standing up in one fluid motion. My expression softened as I stood up and fought the urge to walk over there and hug the devastated blonde. Instead, I muttered my apologies to Mello. He turned and looked at Roger who was about to argue with him. "I'm almost 15 anyway. I'll live my own life my own way." I looked at the door and clenched my fists. This had to happen, but it didn't mean I was happy with it.

We had to break the rules of chess, it was the only way. In order for my skeleton-of-a-plan to work everyone had to have their own influence. Near would be best suited with the law enforcement branch, Mello in the crime, leaving me with the normal people. This gives us a wide range of allies and pawns. Then it'd only be a matter of time before Kira spreads his influence to taking over the government, that's when we'll be in trouble. Once that happens, we will have to end this soon.

"He didn't wait for me to finish. Granted, I did pause." I sighed and jerked my head toward the door. Matt nodded and walked out of the room to tend to the fuming blonde. "I don't know if I'm cut out to be L, I want that to be clear right now," I said emotionlessly as I followed Matt out of the office, only to turn and weave my way toward the backyard where I climbed into the tree L and Watari were buried under. Their graves were marked by unmarked gravestones. It's what L would've wanted. It was the least we could've done. I mean the only thing we could've put on L's was his insignia, and even though would look cool, it was a little plain.

I pulled myself up onto the branches, the strain almost foreign to my muscles as I climbed up the tree to lean against the trunk, able to see over the fence. Rain started falling; the mist adding theatrical effect as Mello was seen walking from Wammy's. Matt gave him the fake passport, and hopefully convinced the blonde to help us. Even though the red-head was going to roll with me, he was still Mello's buddy. That's a relationship that will never go away, so we might as well use it to ensure that it never will.

The sun was setting as Mello kept walking, where he was going was unknown. He and I probably had the same thoughts on the matter of where the best place to go was, America. It was the superpower. Knowing Mello however, his drive to do whatever it takes will probably lead him to do some pretty stupid things, and that's probably where Light is going to start focusing his attacks. Don't do anything deadly Mello, please. I know you're not _that_ dense.

I crossed my arms and bowed my head. Now, what was I going to do? My obligations to stay away from BB were void. However, my army of the common man was something that should take priority. The internet might move fast, but even within the vast reality getting an army big enough to intimidate Light was going to be hard. Another concern with this method was, could I get enough people to stand up to Light? This is too far in the future to be thinking, let's get to America and talk to BB first.

Obviously the first thing was an identity, passport, maybe a driver's license, for America. Name, for me Ebony Lawliet, I wanted it to be easy for Light to find me, but hard for him to track. I was impulsive enough he wouldn't be able to find me easily. Matt's going to stretch his hacker muscles a lot. Appearance was going to need to change, he'll be looking for someone who blends in. I should dye my hair red or blue, something that stands out, just until we get settled. I'll probably die it once and let it grow out. The rest of my identity, here at the orphanage or otherwise was going to have to be burned, end of story.

I smiled to myself, the only other paper copy on me was in LA, and all the more reason why I should visit while I'm there. The eyes also was important to the case, we might as well learn how to get around them. This was going to be key, if I could find a way to get around those eyes I could be Kira free. So far, the only sure-fire way is walking around in a mask that covered the face completely. I didn't want too much attention now did I?

"Hey Matt?" I asked knowing he was under my branch probably wondering how insane I was for staying out here in the freezing rain. I heard him call up in response. "How long does it take to completely burn both of our identities and place new ones to be used for us, complete with social security and birth certificate?" I heard him whistle from under me. This was a tall order, but if I didn't think he could do it, I wouldn't have asked.

"That'll take me a while –a week possibly why?" I told him what I had been thinking of and he nodded as he looked up. "I see, I'll do it if I can come." I sighed, I had no choice in the matter did I? Being the old me, I pretended like I had reluctantly agreed to his terms. After we had finished laughing I added that I'll worry about the paper copies of our existence here at Wammy's and told him to take care of his other orphanage while I took care of mine, saying we should meet-up in Chicago. "When are we leaving?"

"Before this year ends," I responded determination ringing out in my voice. "I don't want Mello to be waiting to long." I smirked, Kira was going down, it's four geniuses against one, surely he wasn't going to be able to outsmart the four of us, right? The chances of Light actually wining was slim, and the fact we are all under L included, is only around 3%. Even lower if you consider all I need was proof that Light was Kira.

* * *

**I really want to make a song reference here, but spoofing "Lose Yourself" by Eminem is kind of overdone. Ebony wouldn't be proud of me. **

**Also, I know L is OOC, but hear me out…read me out…He's dead. To me being dead means being care-free about the living world. Also, it was a dream. Ever had a weird dream that you woke up thinking "whaa? So-and-so would never do that!" Yeah it could be that kind of dream. But also, how did he know about the cards…questions questions hmmm. Only I know the true answer. I think that it should've been written, to show just how close those two have gotten.**

**Also, I probably won't post again until mid-May possibly even June. I have tests...and more tests. Also I have a Hetalia-headcannon I just figured out how I want to write so I want to see where that is going. Uh…I think that's it.**

**As always thanks for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting. Now I should probably go to bed, I have an SAT that's about to have my name written on it. **

**To Kashagal and Natures Ruler: **

_**Ebony:**__ Haha! You got smacked with a newspaper!_

_**Mello:**__ *growls*_

_**Matt:**__ *Looks up from PSP* …. *Starts playing again shaking his head*_

_**Ebony:**__ *continues laughing*_


	30. Chapter 29 Goodbye Everyone

**Disclaimer: What's today? If it ends in "Y" I don't own Death Note. Get it? Got it? Good.**

**Chapter Twenty-nine Goodbye Everyone**

I lifted my head as I zipped my leather jacket halfway over the black hoodie I had on. My eyes glistened in the light of the moon that streamed through my window as the door to my closet of a room slightly clicked open. My head turned toward the white door momentarily as I tied my boots, resting my foot against the top of my bed. Pulling a letter from my pocket, I put it on my desk as Matt lightly walked into my room, bringing his suitcase and duffle bag. We met halfway and quickly hugged each other.

"Alright, here's your ID's and your Passport," he whispered as he produced the materials from the pockets of his ski vest. "You sure America is the safest place?" I shook my head quickly as I looked at the two ID's. One saying I am from England, minimal changes were made, mainly the name and address. This was only to get me over the Atlantic Ocean. The other ID was American, the age had been changed to make up for the two years I was lacking in order to be considered an adult over there. The amount of questions asked would be diminished that way.

"No, but we're not going there because it's safe. We're going there because it's the world's superpower. If Mel listened to us, all we have to worry about is getting a place. What else he's doing there, is up for speculation," I replied in the same tone of whisper the gamer had used as I pulled my hair back into a loose ponytail. I looked at myself in a mirror and blinked, my eyes still looked hollow, saddened. Lethargy was still burdening me, it's cruel face still burdening my thoughts. I was well enough to venture out though. Kira wasn't waiting, neither was I.

"Knowing him, nothing good." I shrugged in agreement as I crossed the room and zipped up the suitcase that I thought was going to collect some dust before it was reused. Plans change pretty quickly don't they? Three days after Mello left, and I'm already following his trend. It wasn't like me to follow Mello, normally I did the opposite of what he wanted simply to annoy him. My motive wasn't there this time. This time it was to stop the evil that was tied to Light Yagami. Unlike him, I wasn't leaving in a rage. I was leaving covertly in the middle of the night. Still, the thought of me following his footsteps remained.

"His methods might not be considered 'good' but he's going to want to beat Near. He'll try to stop Kira for that sole purpose. If he wants to even have a chance at it he'll have to talk to us. I am the only alive –and not completely moronic –person who knows Kira well." I crossed the room again and picked up the credit cards from L and stuffed them into my pocket. "Come-on we need to leave now, someone always walks past the door at 3:30 on the dot." I shrugged on my backpack and rolled my shoulders back to ensure comfort.

"How are we getting out of here? The front door is obviously not how we're leaving." Very good Watson, the door has an alarm; it'd be foolish to go through that. I smirked and grabbed the handle of my suitcase, slightly nodding as I opened the door, letting Matt walk out before me. Taking one last look at the room, my smile melted off of my face, I was going to miss this place. Leaving the door opened, I turned back and put my finger on my lips.

I tip-toed toward Mello's old room, no one had been by to clean it out, that means our escape was still there. The three feet or so that separated our rooms at that moment felt like three hundred, somehow we made it, not touching one of the many squeaking floorboards in the process. Turning toward Matt I tapped lightly on the wall in Morse-code telling him why we were going to Mello's room. The redhead raised an eyebrow as I continued to tap, pulling out the bobby pin I had hidden in my hair to pick the lock with my other hand.

"_Mel and I used to sneak out and go to the store. You know Roger, he's so cheap he'd skip out on getting him enough chocolate and me enough fruit. The reason why we never told you was because you would want to go look at games and Blondie said you'd take too long to pick one and then the whole operation would fall apart. That and as he said it 'If we were caught rumors would start and there goes all hope of impressing L and beating that damn sheep.'" _Matt scoffed quietly as I held the knob with my right hand, sticking the pin into the lock. I knelt down to get a better view to pick the lock with, my breath slow and steady.

Stiffening slightly, Matt put his hand on my shoulder. I turned at him briefly and exhaled my half-held breath. I nodded slightly, signaling I was alright. I twisted the doorknob, still locked. My stomach dropped in fear, and then tightened in anger. I huffed and clenched my fist, stupid door. Mello's changed his lock again, calm down. I have time there is still time for me to sneak out unnoticed. Shaking my head a few times to calm myself down I exhaled loudly and continued to pick the lock. Stupid blonde, make my escape harder.

My eyes widened as the loud click I was waiting on was heard. I threw open the door and crawled inside, trying to remember exactly where the ladder was hidden. Knowing Mello, he planned us using the ladder, so he probably hid it again after he changed the locks. I turned to the normal hiding spot, in his closet, and nodded as my suspicions were confirmed. There were still things to be done, and with this slight set-back I couldn't do it myself. These tasks were small, and they didn't have to be done, it wasn't necessary at all, but in order for me to leave with a clear conscience, it had to.

"Hey Matt, while I look for the ladder, could you slide this letter under Near's door, and tape this one on the door of the room we're in now, Linda's been following us. She'll back up into the shadows when you walk up, don't respond, and don't try to scare her," I instructed quietly pulling the letters out to the gamer. "I won't have time to plant them, only the one to Roger."

The letters were taken from my hands as I tapped the floor with the heel of my boot. I was almost tempted to look where his chocolate used to be stored. Then I'd have to move his bed, that's a little loud. Sure I could call Matt back and we could lift the thing, but there were pieces of my plan I had to plant now. The letters would prove to be beneficial later, maybe when this thing all blows over, maybe in the next couple of months.

The note to Linda –the one on the door –was telling her not to worry, that I had everything planned out. It was the biggest lie ever, but I needed her to believe me, or at least believe I planned on getting out of this alive. If she believed that, than anything I asked her to do, she hopefully will believe will help me achieve that. In other words, she couldn't be looking for me, any ties to this place and me would mean the end of everything Wammy's stood for. As a Wammy Kid, I refused to let this place fall apart. This was my home, and will be the home of plenty other kids. This place was transformed to find L's replacement. It has done its job, why should it stop?

Near's letter was longer, like two pages longer. I even used L's favorite font in order to save paper and not arouse suspicion. Even though I was sure he could figure it out, it had detailed instructions on how to get help from the U.S. government. Tips included were things L had said during one of the nights we stayed up together working, the names of the agents that died at the hand of Light, and other things to get him in the door. What Near did after that was beyond me. The goal was to ensure he in the game as soon as possible. Namely, when he found all the information he could about the Kira case. It would only be a fraction of what I knew, but it would be enough to request his own team and continue the investigation.

His first move would then to find me hopefully. I mean, it was the most reasonable course of action. It all came down to that I knew the most about this case, and I was going to maintain that title by going out on my own and talking to the one person I promised I would leave alone as long as L was alive and working on the case. He was dead now, I had lived up to my promise. Desperation was setting in. It finally donned after Mel had left that this was all truly in my hands.

I perked up when I found a hollow spot in the floor, the ladder. I've won the lottery! I knelt down and pulled up a few floorboards and smiled at the black spray-painted plastic. Memories of how Mel and I would climb down from his window, pull the ladder off of the window and hide it in the bushes while we went off to town, and then when we returned we'd pick up the ladder and use the library window, and then the air vents to return to our rooms flooded my head. This time, I didn't have to hide this thing, it wasn't going to be needed anymore. It wasn't like we could take it on the plane or anything.

Matt walked in closing the door slowly. "Hey, ready?" I asked as I stood up with the ladder and walked toward the window, pushing it opened and pushed the ladder off the edge, making sure it was secure as I picked up my suitcase and threw it outside into the bushes. "Are there any valuables in your….never mind gaming systems. Heaven forbid the plastic casing gets a scuff on your babies. I swear if our kids have names like 'Playstation' or 'X-box'…wait the only reason I'd agree to those names is if I'm drunk when you suggest them. I'll go down and you toss me the bag." I sat on the window sill my legs still inside.

"….But Eb, wait aren't you taking this 'escape plan' too far?" Matt complained. I raised my eyebrows and posed the question on how we were supposed to escape if he wasn't willing to risk his systems, besides we could always buy him new ones, it's not like we were hurting for money like Mello. I suppose I should be nice and give him some help. "But the sentimental value won't be there. Rebecca will hate me if a replaced her!"

"You named them?" I asked skeptically, crossing my arms. Matt looked around the room, trying to come up with an excuse. Finding none, or so I assumed due to his actions, he walked over and kissed me lightly, my stomach fluttering in happiness as he stroked my cheek, asking if there was a safer way. I shook my head after kissing him on the nose.

"Fine," he sighed as I swung my legs under the ledge and climbed down, but not before I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again.

Nodding my head I stood in the bushes just under the window. Matt disappeared into the room as I scanned the area, making sure my landing, or the landing of my suitcase didn't cause anyone to come outside, the lights of the room I was in front of were still off, always a good sign.

Taking a step backwards, I hissed quietly, he brought _all_ of his gaming systems. Really? He doesn't even play his Playstation 2 games, granted he sometimes plays an old Playstation, but I know for a fact most of the games he plays are available on the Playstation Store on the Playstation 3. He could've easily left one station here! But _no_, the gaming addict had to bring them all. There was also no telling what he had in his ski vest, thank-god he scheduled our flight for late this afternoon, bringing him through security is going to be a pain.

"What do you want to do about the ladder?" Matt asked holding onto the ladder with one hand. I looked up and gestured with my head that we should keep moving. "Alright, you know leaving all these clues we are makes it pretty obvious we left." I hooked my arm with his as we both stuck our hands in our jacket pockets. I shrugged as I started skipping down the street Wizard of Oz style.

I stopped and turned toward the red-head my face flushed from the exercise. A smile spread across my face. "I know, that's the idea," I whispered as I bowed my head, a strong cold blast of air blowing through. "Eventually we'll be pulled back into the Kira case. Leaving these clues as well as other ones I have planned ensures that Near will be looking out for us first. He's the only one staying here, so he's now L's successor by default. Granted we'll know the truth, but who cares anymore."

I kept my eyes low and forward, my steps well measured and taken with care. The moon casted long shadows to our right, making my paranoia spike slightly. There was no way for Light to find us, I locked the building tightly, only I know how to unlock it. Actually I was the only one with a key but that was beside the point. There was no conceivable way for Light to track that helicopter here. Speaking of all of this, there was one thing that Matt could do to make my life easier.

"Ya know, this is eventually going to circle around and we're going to eventually get in touch with the Japanese Task Force, you're going to eventually need to know Japanese, I won't always be able to translate. Especially when Light's around, I hate him, and I know he knows English. He'll know instantly when I call him names and what have you. Not as much fun when he and you are the only one who gets my humor." Matt looked at me and nodded with a smirk on his face.

"Where are we going exactly? I mean it's clear you're planning something," Matt asked keeping his voice low, getting back on the important topic. I told him that we were going to Chicago, or at least he was to set up base camp while I talked to Backup, possibly break him out if he didn't talk. Backup would've been a more capable successor than me. I watched my feet as we walked my voice dropping down to a monotone. "No."

My head shot up from the sidewalk, staring straight into the side of Matt's face, the look of disbelief on my face. He didn't elaborate. I was left there trying to figure out if he meant that I should leave him in jail, or I was undermining myself. The gamer kept his eyes forward, his face expressionless as we continued walking toward town. I blinked and watched him hide his face within the collar of his vest, trying his hardest to hide from my gaze.

Beyond should stay where he was in the gamer's opinion. His disagreement made sense, it just caught me off guard. Normally, Matt was an agreeable person, up for anything as long as he didn't have to do anything. He didn't have to do anything, so I figured he'd shrug and continue to let me explain my plan. Still, he had every right to disagree; I was talking about towing an insane killer with us. Any sane person would disagree with me.

"I understand you're protests, but in order to bring Yagami down we'll need to understand how the Shinigami eyes work. I don't know about you, I am unwilling to give up half my remaining life to find out the details," I said quietly, even though Wammy's was out of view, and the streets were empty. It was almost impossible for us to be noticed given the hour.

My eyes were still focused on the pavement. I didn't really like the idea of breaking B out of jail, all the work done to get him there would be a waste. Well, not really because he'd be dead if the truth wasn't found out, the thought of that time being wasted made me a little sick to my stomach. Maybe it's because L was the one to put him there. That could be it seeing how I still wasn't over it.

"If B wanted out of jail, he would've been out by now. Keep him in LA if you can," Matt sighed in consent. I nodded, I was planning on that anyways, but the longer we waited the longer Kira had to get the information needed to kill him. That wasn't going to happen until I got what I needed. That's why I had packed up and left. My plans other than Beyond were few in number, getting support from the internet could be done anywhere.

I looked up, my bangs falling farther into my eyes somehow. When did life get complicated? I was perfectly happy being the biggest underachiever in Wammy history. There was controlled chaos within those walls, and the culprits were always obvious. In some ways, Wammy's house was paradise compared to the hell of the real world.

We were a dysfunctional family, but it worked. Mello scared kiddos in line. Not in reference to the house's rules, it was the unwritten rules of the orphanage that he was focused one. Don't reveal names, no touching, we were all there for a reason, and if you're reason isn't being exploited; STFU. All these rules and others were enforced especially his number one rule, don't mess with his chocolate. Everyone but me listened to this because I was the only one with the balls to break this rule.

_Wind ran through my hair as I suddenly stopped running and slid on the floor, a few feet before friction slowed me down enough to start running again. My cheeks were drawn back in a smile, a stampeding bull behind me. I brought chocolate to my mouth and bit down happily. I, of course, failed to get the same epic snapping effect he could, but hey I had chocolate and he didn't._

"_Dang Mello! I love me some chocolate!" I called out behind me causing everyone to stop what they were doing and watch this. "Watch out, Princess coming through. All hail the crown!" Laughter spilled through the hall as I saw Matt clueless due to his game obsession, walking in my path. _

_I grabbed Matt's elbow and pushed him out of the rampage of the blonde, snapping off a piece of chocolate, handing it to him. Somehow in all of this, the game he was playing was paused and his nose was pulled out of his gameboy. I hid behind the gamer, holding onto his shoulders, as I tried to regain my breath._

_I turned and looked down the hall, my heart pounding in my chest due to the fact Mello disappeared. My eyes tore apart the hallway, thinking of every conceivable way to get to this very spot. Behind us, the way I came, through another hall to my left, the air vents, all of these were possible and practical. My eyes widened as Mello turned back into our hallway._

"_Ebony, what did…Why did you break his number one rule?" I shrugged and continued running, sliding on my knees to slow my momentum down, letting Mello run past me as I scrambled to my feet once again and started running outside to my normal refuge, the tree. _

_xXx_

Slowly stirring my coffee, I lifted my head and sat back, scanning the airport with wide eyes. Children were crying, apprehension of going thousands of feet into the air overwhelming them, leaving their mothers to comfort them. Whether it was the fear of the unknown, or being in a tight space, I couldn't tell the difference. All I knew was that more comforting, and less ignoring had to take place here.

One family caught my eye. French if I was reading the mother's lips correctly. Posed the question on how they got here, but it came up answerless based on the information I had. All I had was speculation. They could be visiting family, but it was obvious that they were originally from France. What I knew to be fact at this point, was that a little girl was bawling her eyes out. Unlike half the people here, her parents were generally trying to comfort her.

"Be right back," I said as I pulled out a chocolate bar from my backpack. This was going to be given to Mello, but I had his entire forgotten stash with me. He'd probably assume that I ate it, and I wouldn't correct him, but she needed it more. I watched the family as I walked to the gift shop, pulling out what cash I had with me to buy a stuffed animal. I know it'd kind of creepy, a complete stranger doing this, but I was still young. I still had a couple of years before I couldn't pull this off. I might as well milk it for what it's worth.

Exiting the gift shop, I paused and listened for the flight announced, Japan. I had to fight the look of disgust from crossing my face. I can still hardly believe there were flights there, it was unreasonable, not to mention dangerous. Playing in Kira's playground, and Kira doesn't like people doing that. Innocent people walking onto a plane into enemy territory, this was almost inconceivable to me. I hoped that this would stop, but I knew that it wasn't.

Shaking my head I walked to the family and knelt down in front of the blonde little girl tears streaming down her face. Her father looked at me as I smiled sweetly and showed them the stuffed bear, and giant chocolate bar I was planning on giving her. I made a gentle caring face take over my features. If I was going to try anything I was an idiot. He nodded slightly in approval.

The knots that were in my stomach loosened their hold as I slightly leaned forward, forcing my thoughts to switch languages. Her shoulders shook as she pressed her palms into her eyes, her face was flushed from crying. I bit the inside of my bottom lip, no turning back now.

"Excusez-moi," I said putting a hand on the girl's knee. She looked up and momentarily stopped crying looking at me curiously as I moved my hair from my eyes and smiled at her. "Me and this handsome teddy-bear couldn't help but to notice you're sad." My voice was light and happy, as I made the bear bend at the hip, making him look sad too. "He wanted to make you feel better, isn't that right…." I trailed off, giving the girl time to interject a name.

"Francis!" she cried as she took the bear from my hands. She squeezed the stuffed animal as hard as her little body could manage. Her mother looked relieved to see her daughter happy again. To be honest I thought this wouldn't have this big of an effect. To stop the tears was as far as I thought this would go, not death hug. She must've lost her bear, here or left it at the hotel they were staying at. A small smile lit up my face as I started to stand up, a small hand making me pause. "Merci Madame."

"You're welcome," I replied bowing my head as the little girl's parents smiled at me with tight lips, unsure how to perceive me. I waved and walked off to rejoin Matt at the table, another flight being announced for loading and departure.

"That was nice of you," Matt nonchalantly as he mashed buttons on his DS. I shrugged and sat back in the chair as the family walked off into the terminal we were sitting by. "While I'm thinking about it; when we get to America, there will be a guy there waiting for us. He has guns and other stuff. He's from a small local gang in New York, Mel sent him."

"Tch, didn't take him long. This goes without saying, but I'm saying this simply because I could say that I told you not to later, but don't tell him where we're going if on the off chance we see him alright?" Matt nodded as I laid my head on my arms. I was going to have a nice nap once we board our plane.

xXx

Turning the gun in my hands over a few times, I frowned and looked at the tall buzz-cut male in front of me. Matt was schmoozing with the guy, distracting him as I scanned the airport. Something wasn't right here. Only one guy, was here, sneaking all of these arms and ammo in for us would take an extra pair of hands. A figure was off to the side, sitting alone, face covered feet on the table as the front two legs of the chair were off of the ground. Mello.

I hid the gun in the waistband of my jeans and tapped on Matt's shoulder, nodding toward the figure wearing a tight black v-neck, black leather jacket and black skinny jeans, good thing he always looked good in black. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to help myself in making fun of him. Still, I had a few things to say. He was taking the slimming factor of the color to the extreme. The figure lifted what looked like a chocolate bar to his mouth and I swore I could hear it snap.

"Hey, thanks man, but we got a go," Matt said shaking the guy's hand. I looked at the man at the table, a flash of blonde hair falling out of the hood covering his face. I nodded toward him and gestured for him to follow us. He paused, looking around and then nodded slightly. "Mello?" I nodded as I guided Matt away from the crowd.

In the bathroom hallway, perfect place for a meeting, people are too busy in airports to bother with us pushed past us. Finding a few chairs off to the side in a lounge area in case giant parties all had to pee at the same time, Matt and I took them, me pulling the hood of my hoodie up over my head as I sat back, waiting on Mello.

We didn't have to wait long; loud footsteps in a rhythm I was too familiar with filled the crowded space. "Look, I don't care what the fuck you two are doing here, but let's get this straight," Mello started pushing his hood down, keeping his voice low as he took the last seat around us. Matt paused his game and stuck it in his pocket, "don't get in my way." Bowing my head, I shook it and looked up at the blonde.

"Wasn't planning to. In fact, I'm actually going to help you out," I said my voice monotone. Matt raised an eyebrow as Mello blinked a few times at me. Unexpected Ebony strikes again! Though, I wasn't sure how this was unexpected. Maybe it was because I was talking to Mel like a person rather than Mello. "Look I know we don't always get along Mel, but we're on the same side. We ran away, Near's the 'official' successor. The crime in LA has always been big, and it's sure is a hell of a lot closer to Japan than New York. I'd start there, get yourself a rat once Near sets up his thing. The weakest point of Task Force as far as I know is Sorichio Yagami, he always does the right thing not to mention his son is in the same division as him. Do what you will with that information." I crossed my arms as the blonde's shocked expression relaxed.

Mello smirked and nodded, looking around before he leaned forward, elbows on his knees. I copied him and Matt turned toward him, his expression was on guard, he didn't know what to expect from him. He probably thought it was going to be another "I'll be number one" speech, but I wasn't buying into it. I did something unexpected; it was only fair he did the same. "I've been looking into Kira's killings. They've changed patterns again. Now he's killing entire prisons at once, and he started in Washington State. It seems like his target is America. Get to Backup and get your information before he dies too." Blinking, I hadn't been paying attention to his killings, I just got the head count and the country. Mello has done a lot in a few days. More than I can say, I was still trying to get in to the swing of things again.

"Thanks Mel. Be careful, and stay in touch, and install this on your computer, makes it untraceable, one time use. So, make sure the computer you're using it on is the one you're sticking with," Matt said handing a flash drive to the blonde. He looked at it and pocketed it.

"Just in case I don't see ya again Mel, I want you to know that even though I annoyed you, I saw you as of my closest friends. Even when you almost killed me that time and I didn't talk to you for two months," I said jokingly as I stood up and held my hand out to shake the blonde's hand. I looked at the ground and avoided eye contact as Mello stood up.

"We'll all get out of this alive. Don't doubt this for one second Ebony," the blonde said pushing my hand away and putting a hand on my shoulder. I looked up shocked at him. "I _will_ beat Near and I _will_ beat Kira. I am L's successor, no matter what that damn letter said." A wide smile spread across my face. There's the Mello I know.

"I'll hold you to that Mel. If I do die, I'll come back to haunt you," I joked as I shrugged off his hand and hugged him. "Come-on Matt, group hug, last one, for old time's sake." Matt smirked as he stood up and joined the hug. I smiled this was going to be a good memory someday, or every day. It was sweet alright?

"Kira doesn't stand a chance," Matt said quietly.

* * *

**I'm almost bursting with excitement right now. The next chapter is called "Beyond Birthday" that pretty much explains everything. I finished the draft of one fan fiction, I'm 11 chapters drafted into the sequel, I am 6 chapters outlined in my Black Butler Fan Fiction. I am going to start outlining/researching things for my Hetalia Fan Fiction, and I have an idea for an original story. Summer's almost here and I have a lot of ideas bubbling around! Words prepare to be written.**

**As for what I'll be posting. My goal is to finish this one and take a break, not long maybe a month or two. That's how long my chapters come out anyways, so I don't think this will be that big of an issue. I'll still be coming out with stories, just not this one. Also, I'm going to Florida, getting in touch with my inner kid, that's going to be freaking epic!**

**Alright, I'm good….for now…I think… **

**Anyways thanks for reading reviewing, favoriting, and alerting.**


	31. Chapter 30 Beyond Birthday

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, or anything affiliated with it. I also don't own the Poem "The Jabberwock" that belongs to Lewis Carroll. Ebony is my original character and so I believe I have the right to claim her. **

**Also, there are a lot of clues to Ebony's real name, or her first one anyways. Good luck guessing. **

**Chapter Thirty Beyond Birthday**

"_`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves  
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:  
All mimsy were the borogoves,  
And the mome raths outgrabe._  
_'Beware the Jabberwock, my son!  
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!  
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun  
The frumious Bandersnatch!'  
He took his vorpal sword in hand:  
Long time the manxome foe he sought -  
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,  
And stood awhile in thought.  
And, as in uffish thought he stood,  
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,  
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,  
And burbled as it came!  
One, two! One, two! And through and through  
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!  
He left it dead, and with its head  
He went galumphing back.  
'And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?  
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!  
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'  
He chortled in his joy.  
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves  
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;  
All mimsy were the borogoves,  
And the mome raths outgrabe."  
-Lewis Carroll_

_xXxXx_

Beyond Birthday, Backup, B, whatever you wanted to call him. I never knew him, didn't know what to expect from him other than the fact he was going to know my name the minute he saw me. This was slightly unsettling, sure I could hide my face but then I'd look like a criminal, not cool. He was supposedly crazy, if that was the case then I was going to have to be creative on how I was going to get this information.

When I was at Wammy's house, I had not only found his room –it was kind of hard to miss from the giant "B" written on the door with strawberry jam –I had also found B's old journal. The first half of the entries in the book were normal, what was written was relatable to me as everyday life of a Wammy's kid. In fact, it was a little more innocent than I was used to. Mello always had added a sense of danger to traversing the halls.

Then it changed. This was gradual at first, like a huge amount of stress was put on him at once, but then it went completely off the deep end. He never said what happened directly, and when I was the newbie at Wammy's I didn't understand. The entries were all centered around this "A" person. From B's perspective, A was the Matt to his Mello. A was calm, but he and B together caused as much trouble as one of me. No wonder Roger was sick of me; he got rid of two trouble makers and then got a replacement rather quickly. Sucks for him.

Then A was declared as L's successor, B was his second, and according to the journal, things changed. Change was hard to cope with, and judging by the entries, even to an adaptive orphan this happened too quickly, like a light switch had been flipped. Roger started pushing A. He was consumed by work and his studies. The pal that B knew was gone, and he was slowly getting more and more apprehensive. Before the case, just by reading the journal, I felt that B knew what was going to happen next, and now I was positive.

A died. Actually more accurately, A committed suicide, hung himself. As expected, B didn't take the news well, he blamed L for putting the pressure onto A that lead to his death. Personally I didn't blame him, B was the odd one out. The other children alienated him because he was just weird and he knew too much, A was the only one who really got to know him and he just died. He swore to avenge his friend. B figured himself smart, and he thought that he could beat L.

The journal stopped after that, and the LA BB Murder Cases started. He killed 3 people, two adults and one child. The adults names were BB and the child QQ. He placed clues in every scene, leading L on the entire time to find him soon after he too committed suicide. In Beyond's eyes, if he died before L found him, he would've won. He would have been the one criminal that L would've been unable to catch.

He almost got away with it too, if it wasn't for L and his meddling FBI agent. L had used, Naomi Misora to investigate each scene in person. L was faster in figuring it out, he needed her to find the needed evidence to convict B. With the help of Beyond, she figured it out, and managed to extinguish Beyond's bonfire before he got too burnt. She was sharp, but she was too trusting too dependent. This might've lead to her disappearance.

Focus Ebony, you're walking through unsafe territory. If Mello's information was right, and if the pattern continued, California was the next target for Light to commit mass murder. I had to prepare myself for anything. Not only from what could happen around me, but as I said before B had lost it. According to Mello, he had started mimicking L during the LABB case, and his mental health went south from there. There was no telling how crazy he was at this point. I'll be honest I was really hoping he hadn't kept his plasticware from his meals. That'd be a story to tell Matt over the phone, "Yeah I'm sorry, B kind of stabbed me in the foot with a plastic knife." Yeah, that'll go well.

I had already cleared the security desk and was calmly being escorted to down a bare, narrow hallway. My stomach was in knots, the entire place, or the psychiatric wing, was completely white and I was in a dark red shirt and black jacket. I stood out. Everything I did to get here was about blending in, and now I was a dirty bruise to the dirty white around me. My eyes darted from wall to wall, looking through my recently dyed blue hair.

Light was looking for me. He was looking for Ebony that was expected to blend in with her surroundings and make herself scarce. I wasn't doing that. I had used Kool-aid to dye my hair blue. It was inexpensive, and it washed out within a couple of months. This will give Matt and I plenty of time to get what we needed before we went completely off the grid. Light would see a hooded figure with blue hair on grainy video footage, and then disregard her, or so I had hoped. If this didn't work nothing would so I might as well have fun with it.

"We're here," said my escort as he stopped in front of a door that was identical to the ones on either side of it. My eyes caught the tag on the side, "Rue Ryuzaki." My eyes narrowed slightly, still using the alias he had used on the case? I suppose that was for the better. "Good luck, you'll need it. Dude's fuckin' insane." I lifted my head, some of my hair falling into my eye.

"I know," I muttered trailing off, waiting for him to leave. The guard scoffed and turned, telling me to call if I needed anything. "I won't, thank-you." My voice was still distant, as I pushed the hood of my jacket off of my head, shaking my head, letting my newly layered hair fall neatly around my shoulders.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the stale white door into another stale white room. I looked around and saw a man wearing an orange prison uniform, hunched over facing the wall. He cackled softly, the laugh sounded wrong. It wasn't human, that's for sure. It was more airy, and cold. The man had raven hair that was in disarray, like he hadn't taken the time to brush it. He turned around and smiled. Instinctively I took a small step back, this caused his smile to grow, his eyes widen, his pupils dilated.

The rumors were true, he did look similar to L, only there were things about his appearance, details really that set the two apart. His face was scarred up, the suicide attempt clear as day as patches of his skin were discolored. I didn't know how much of his body was scarred like that, but the scarred flesh kept going past the collar of his jumpsuit. It would make sense that he would've used gasoline, the right mixture could make a bomb, or at the least a very aggressive fire.

He cackled inhumanely again, the airy chuckle threatening to send shivers down my spine. My eyes narrowed, he was completely oblivious to my presence here. I mean, he saw me this was clear, but I don't think it truly registered that I was there. He looked to be in some sort of trance, his eyes were closed as he leaned his head against the wall. I turned and gently pushed the door closed.

He then opened his eyes, my common sense was screaming at me, saying that I was crazy for standing mouth agape in the presence of a killer that at one point was in the running to be L. He was unpredictable; the chances of me walking out of here alive were anywhere between 15, and 97%. I was playing an insane game of chance, and all I was doing was standing there, calmly studying his dark onyx eyes.

Deranged, insane, yet at the same time sane. There was an air of him being an unstable individual, and I believed it, given his record and motives, yet there was also the feeling that he was rational enough to keep a conversation going to hours without going on a tangent. My plan was to leave him here; he was technically insane, tried as such. Though personally, standing here and how with this guy cackling in front of me I can say that L was being generous toward him. This man, could barely be called a man he was so far gone.

"You're early doctor. Ah well, let's get started, I want to see if I can get you to run out of here within thirty minutes," B cackled, his head still resting on the wall as he rested his elbow against one of his knees. He looked at me, sizing me up, feeling quite confident that he could outsmart me.

"I'm not a psychiatrist. Though out of boredom I did read, and memorize a psychology book. I could evaluate you if you want. Though I'm sure we both know that'd be a waste of time," I responded evenly. Beyond's head jerked to look at me straight in the eye. The confident expression on his face melted. He reevaluated me, taking in every detail of my appearance, my stature. I stood still, keeping my expression even, calm, even though I wanted more than anything in that moment to squirm under his gaze.

Finally, another wide smile spread across his face, his eyes widening as his shoulders started shaking in deranged laughter. "So, what has the cat dragged in _this_ time?" He asked tilting his head to a side, his mouth spread in a creepy –well creepier –grin as I took careful footsteps away from the door, my hand hanging at my side, slightly pulled back in case I needed my gun. Beyond tilted his head further to the side, watching my hand slowly curve into the shape needed to hold it. "So they let you keep it, you must have some influence little bird." I stiffened slightly, stopping in midstride, the last time that name was used was by my dad, before he died. Beyond was completely amused by this, as his face had lit up.

I relaxed my hand, gently laying it on the table I was now standing in front of. "Backup," I started, my voice hardened and monotonic, "we need to talk." The murderer who had seemingly lost interest as I had taken my time to collect myself stopped inspecting his fingernails and turned toward me smiling before laughing again. He got up from the floor and ran over, crouching on the table like L would have and leaned forward, stopping inches from my face, looking into my eyes.

"Yup you have that look, you're a Wammy's puppet too eh?" He paused and laughed again, "Oh but your different than the rest, you've seen _him_ haven't you? _You've_ actually _seen_ him." I turned my head slightly away from him, caution taking over, I knew the subject of L, was a touchy one. "Also there is that issue with your numbers…..Tell me, what do you call yourself? Raven? Rose? Rebbeca?"

"Ebony, call me Ebony," I interrupted him before he could go on. Against my wishes my voice was slightly hardened; clearly offended that he tried to guess my alias. The corners of my mouth turned down slightly and I narrowed my eyes at him as I said this. He knew he was on thin ice about bringing up my real name. Still, even though he saw and understood why I was slightly annoyed with him, he was already on another train of thought.

He mumbled the part about my "numbers" again. That is all the conformation I needed, he had the eyes, I was also seeing why L didn't want me to see this man, he was too smart for his own good, and being completely insane which made him dangerous. "Would you mind talking for a bit Backup, or do you prefer Beyond Birthday?" I bowed my head slightly, covering my eyes with my hair. The pondering psychopath jumped out of his train of thought and looked at me, eyes wide, clearly forgetting I was there.

"Of course, where are my manners _Ebony_, please sit down," he said smiling when he said my alias. "Call me Beyond, Backup was kissing L's ass like everyone else at that damned orphanage." I shrugged off my backpack, putting my leg through one of the arm straps so he couldn't mess with it without me knowing. He crawled over the table and crouched on the chair opposite of mine. I clenched my fist, laying it on my leg out of his line of sight, and dug my eyes into his. I understood his grudge, but he made a mistake in calling me someone who kissed L's ass. A small smirk played at the ends of my mouth, let the games begin B.

"Not everyone kisses his ass. I could've easily ranked first, but I was last. I had no care on who L was or what he did. The only reason why I worked with him was because I wanted to know who Kira was. L is dead now, kicked the bucket and is buried at the orphanage he grew up in. Wammy is dead too, Watari. All died at the hand of one of Kira's puppets." Beyond perked up again, moving his thumb to his mouth and smiling as his teeth latched onto the nail. He leaned forward and chuckled slightly.

"So, the little bird is different than the rest, yet she's here. Why?" He tilted his head and tapped his chin in thought, his eyes not leaving mine, nor did the smile on his face shrink, as I put my hands on the table, showing him that whatever he was doing wasn't getting to me at all. "Oh I know, the fledgling wants to avenge her mentor because she found out just how 'amazing' he was when they were working together is that right?" His face then melted into the bored, slightly annoyed one Mello had used all the time. "You're just as pathetic as anyone else at that damn house, why should I waste my time?"

He was wrong, or half wrong. I wanted to avenge L not because he was "amazing," but because he was my friend. I wanted to avenge L because Kira was a fool to think that he could win just because L was out of the picture. He thought I was weak, easily defeated. He thought that I was broken. I was, but now I am more determined than ever to bring him down from his high horse.

"I am here because Kira is a murderer, he has a deranged sense of justice and therefore must be stopped. L can't bring Kira down, and if I do nothing I will eventually follow his footsteps. I am not going to follow L's footsteps Backup, I'm going to surpass him. I'm also not like you, I'm not doing it for me, to prove that I'm better, I'm doing it to save the lives of billions, nobody fits into Kira's deranged vision of good, not even himself," I stated, my voice hardened. My gaze was unwavering as Beyond met it amused. I leaned forward, my scowl becoming more apparent. "So, Beyond, you're wrong," I spat under my breath, playing right into his amusement. B chuckled.

I sat back and crossed my arms, looking at the corner of the room. Beyond raised an eyebrow, curious as to where I was taking this conversation. My face relaxed as I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, recollecting myself. "L was a friend; I respect him as a detective. I want to avenge him because I know Kira, and Kira is," I paused to look for the right word. "Kira is a bastard. By helping me solve the Kira case, you prove that you are better than L. You'll be a hero, sort of, and I could pardon you from this sentence, get you out of here," I bribed dropping my voice low, looking at the camera in the corner of the room with the evil eye. "Also, I might have a few jars of strawberry jam." The raven-haired man perked up at his favorite food.

"Not only do I get out of here without the cops on my tail, but I get jam…alright, what do you need me to tell you?" I merely pointed to my left eye. His eye narrowed slightly, questioning exactly what I meant as I smirked, finally I manage to get one step ahead of him. "Eye…You know about my eyes. How _precious_! Now, what secret could my perfectly normal eyes hold?"

"Cut the crap, you said something earlier about my 'numbers' and you told L that you chose your victims by those very numbers above their head, you knew their lifespans. You also know my real name, your first guesses on my alias started with an 'R' just like my real name. Just heed my warnings here and now, if I think you are lying deal's off. Also, if you _ever_ call me by my real name you're also dead got it?" My voice took on a darker meaning as the killer looked astonished that I had the guts to even say half of what I did. Whether I would or do it or not was beyond me, I just needed to up my intimidation a little.

I jumped as an alarm sounded, and as backwards as it sounds, it didn't sound urgent, and it was short, dull. Like it was supposed to alert someone, like an alarm was, but the subject in which it was alerting people to wasn't urgent. I straightened my back and turned toward the door, the expected stampede of shoes against the clean floor was never heard. Instead the calm march of five or so people was radiated through it. The only other seeable soul in the room was with me looked bored, like this happened often.

The conclusion then was simple. Someone had died, and based on the alarm it was Kira related. Things like this were happening a lot, and like I said the pattern was pointing toward this place being next anyways. I had to react to get this information, but my hacking was sub-par compared to Matt, he could always clean up the hack later. There was no guarantee this would happen. He had to agree to it, but it was worth a shot. Also, walking out with Beyond still in a jumpsuit was also not the best idea either.

"Here, put these on," I called throwing Beyond a change of clothes giving him the death stare in case he decided to make a remark. This is what I get for thinking ahead. As for how I knew his size, I guessed he was about the same size as L, I wasn't too far off. He was slightly taller, but L liked his clothes baggy anyways. "And before you say something let's remember I am you're ticket to free jam. I believe that you can break out of here, but without me you have no jam. Also, it'd only be a matter of time before Kira gets to you. I know who Kira is. Wouldn't you like to know the name of your killer?" I smirked knowing that this would sell. To someone who knew the name of everyone around him, not knowing this would irritate him.

Beyond paused and looked at me, shock evident on his face. "You did some research before you came here didn't you? Though Kira. I _would_ love to know who will eventually end my life." A confused look crossed my face. "Don't look at me like that, you and I both know that eventually _he'll_ find me, and when he does," he paused and took a deep breath, "I will have to finish where I left off." He returned to the corner he was sitting in when I originally arrived and threw his head up laughing, mumbling to himself on how he was going to kill himself.

Taking a laptop from my bag, I opened it and turned it on, silently urging it to hurry up, there was only so much time. The insane killer let out another cackle "Oh yes, the entire room tinted crimson! That is a must." Blinking I ignored him, watching the screen as I reached for a pair of handcuffs in my back pocket and held onto them tightly as Beyond turned toward me, wearing a black long sleeve shirt and jeans. Like L did when he had met Task Force, he scratched his leg with his foot, his hand scratching his head. I pressed my lips into a fine line, turning back to the laptop.

He walked over to stand over me, watching as the laptop finally finished starting up and allowed me to start hacking with my limited knowledge. My fingers danced across the keyboard, and I bit my lip, if I was found it was all over. Knowing L all knowledge of B but what was here was gone. Still, files left and imprint, onto the system. If Light was smart he'd figure out how to do this, and he would if he was determined enough to truly "cleanse" the world.

"You must be desperate little bird," he remarked as I gently handcuffed him to me. I glared at him for a literal half second as I found his file. It was long, longer than I expected. I scrolled through it, making sure nothing was worth saving; anything I could get on this guy would be greatly appreciated. I opened one file that stood out, deciding that since I was here, I might as well. My eyes widened, it was a complete psychological assessment, done by L himself. Before I engrossed myself into it, I saved it to my computer and deleted the original, guess I have something else to read on those night's I can't sleep.

"Let's go, we only have so much time before the corpses are moved," I said scanning the ceiling looking for an air vent, it worked at Wammy's why should here be any different? Thinking about the details, this should actually be easier seeing how this place is used to criminals, not geniuses. Also, we'd be out of the camera's eye, and thus Light's, and the door was locked. I reached into my hair and pulled out a bobby pin, noticing B's eyes above my head eyes narrowed.

Blinking back to attention I turned toward the table and pushed it to be under the portal and paused, coming to a realization, and instantly not becoming happy with it. Either I was going to have to leave everything on me and the case –including the Death Note –and climb through the air vent, or I was going to have to take Backup with me, and crawl backwards. Neither case was ideal, but I was getting desperate, I looked at the criminal count here, and if I was right we only had a few minutes before Light was done murdering everyone.

"Give me your hand," I demanded sternly, holding my hand out. Beyond looked at me amused, chuckled a little and walked toward me, straightening his back to his full height. Normally that'd add intimidation, but I was always short, and I knew that I was. I knew how to use my height disadvantage and turn it to an advantage. "Do you want to get the hell out of here or not?" My voice was stern and I bowed my head, covering my hair with my eyes. Hold it back Eb, that question is going to have to wait.

"You already cuffed me little bird, you will only have one hand, and you'll have to go in backwards in order for us to fit, how do you plan on doing this?" Beyond's eyes widened as his thumb found his mouth in thought. He nibbled on it for a moment, like L would. He then looked at it completely disgusted, but he didn't wipe the finger on his clothes. It was the gesture itself that disgusted him. I looked up, he had a point, it would take too long to get us both up here. Looks like it's the direct approach, no other choice if I want that information, to see for myself how those eyes work.

I shrugged on my backpack, and knelt down in front of the door, testing the doorknob. He turned toward me and smirked as I frowned, pushing the black bobby pin into the lock, knowing that this was going to be –nevermind, it actually was a simple lock pick. It was my turn to chuckle. Pushing the door open I paused and turned toward the black haired maniac, looking him dead in the eyes.

"Let's go. He's probably using the cameras. Keep your head down," I said before pushing myself to my feet and looked down the hall.

Clear, for now. That damn prison bell was giving me a head ache. I walked out of the room, B keeping close to me, a little too close, like the handcuffs I was using were normal length, they weren't. Same length as the ones L used, we had some room that we could put between us. Backup has already proved to be completely insane, so I just rolled with it. I pulled up my hood, hiding my eyes from the cameras.

"Calm down little bird, the only people who has access to the cameras here are people of the law, if Kira were to use these, then wouldn't he be giving the world a big clue as to who he is? Tsk, tsk, you aren't going to surpass L at this rate," B sang shaking his head as he let out another airy chuckle. The more you know Backup, the more you know. Not saying a word I lead the criminal out of the station, and into the chilly winter air.

The alarms stopped as he walked out, somehow I had managed to save him. I turned toward the back of the prison. There were already stretchers of dead prisoners started walking out. The two of us walked to the side of the building, me watching in horror. To think, ironically we were reviewing Hitler at Wammy's before all of this, but this, _this_ was worse. Moving ever so slightly to the right, I turned toward the maniac and a finger against my mouth as I stood up and walked into the sight of one of the guards.

"Excuse me," I said taking a step forward, holding my hands behind my back, keeping the chain out of view. "Is everyone dead?" The cop's face turned grim, his features suddenly looking years older as he nodded grimly. "Thank-you." I bowed my head as he continued to wheel the corpse out of the prison. I returned to the bushes and started walking through the small wooded area around the prison.

My head was bowed as I shook my head. "This is despicable," I muttered. "I know they are criminals, but they are people nonetheless. They are brothers, daughters, mothers, and fathers. People have emotional ties to these criminals, and he kills them without a second thought." Beyond looked at me distantly, slightly intrigued. I met his dark eyes through my hair, my expression flat and emotionless. At least one "good" thing came from all of this.

* * *

**It's summer for me, and that means a lot of things really. My laptop and I reunite after a long and grueling school year. This means I get to write more and my chapter output will increase, by a lot. Though my family and I have plans to go to Florida next week, and the week after that I have drumline camp, but after that I will start writing like a maniac. I promise! This is a little ambitious, but I hope to be close to done with this story before band camp starts up again. I am rewriting a lot and I'm almost on chapter 40 and Eb has yet to reunite with Mello. **

**A note to how I portrayed Beyond Birthday. I've read many fan fictions, and seen countless fan-arts over the subject of B, and a good number of them depict him with red eyes, like how Mikami's and Mr. Yagami's are in the latter half of the Death Note Series. The reason I didn't do this is because at some point when the eyes are first introduced in Death Note, it is said that no one knows which humans have the eyes other than the Shinigami that made the dead. Also, the book where BB comes from never actually gives his eye color if I remember right. It just says that he was mimicking L, and because of that I also molded his personality slightly to make it his own since he doesn't have to act anymore. **

**So, I leave you guys with this! Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following. If you happen to be reading this in the southern hemisphere, happy winter! **


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